Book review: Alan's perspective - Dedicated to Vietnamese entrepreneurs in the global battle

I bought this book a long time ago but I only read it recently. The book is a collection of articles by Businessman Dr. Alan Phan in the newspaper and fanpage Alan's Perspective on the topic of Vietnamese Businessmen in integrating with the world.

Therefore, I find its structure a bit similar to Tony the Morning because it includes stories and short interviews, but different from Tony the Morning in that Tony is fictional. And Alan Phan is a flesh and blood man who has witnessed many ups and downs of his country and himself.

Alan Phan's real name is Pham Viet Ai (1945 - 2015) is a businessman, visiting lecturer, journalist and writer. He received a USAID scholarship (I don't know what kind of scholarship it is - just rewritten according to his profile) majoring in Environment in 1963.

He returned home in 1968 and taught at Phu Tho College (now Polytechnic University, Ho Chi Minh City National University). After that, he did his own business with companies like Dona Foods, Foremost Dairies (today's Vinamilk), and Mekong Car with a total of 18,000 employees. He is a famous businessman in Southern Vietnam.

After the 1975 incident (liberation of the South), he had all his million-dollar assets confiscated at that time. I don't remember exactly how much to convert to the current value. He was almost empty-handed and had to return to the US on a refugee ship... It seems he had about 6000$ left in his pocket.

What I find most wonderful when reading about his personality is that he is always optimistic in the most difficult situations. If I were in such a situation, I believe that I and many people would blame fate, hate the government, or more seriously, choose death to escape because we cannot accept reality.

He said that at that time his wife cried and was very sad on the train to America, but in his heart he was not sad or blaming, but thought of a way to go to America to start over.

And after going to the US to build, he became the first Vietnamese to have a company listed on the US stock market in 1997 with Harcourt company, the highest value reached 700 million USD in 1999.

After that, he experienced failure again after the burst of the dotcom bubble, was not discouraged and continued to choose China as the place to start a new career,... then finally returned to Vietnam.

I just wrote some brief information about him so you can understand the ups and downs and profound knowledge that Alan Phan has experienced. And this brings great intellectual value to the book Alan's Perspective - Dedicated to Vietnamese businessmen in the global battle.

His thoughts throughout the book are optimism that always looks forward. Objectively assessing the environment, the current situation still has many weaknesses in Vietnam, but there is always faith in the next generation of young people.

I really like this idea. There are many people who criticize the politics and human environment of Vietnam, and there is no shortage of keyboard warriors in Vietnam. Every day, wherever you sit, you hear many people talking about Vietnam like this, Vietnam like that, cursing the state and society, but they themselves do not do even the smallest thing to help society. Society gets better.

I have acquaintances who complain all day about Vietnam's polluted environment and poor people's awareness, then praise other countries for being civilized, etc. This is also true. But when they themselves are always smoking cigarettes, throwing trash on the street, running red lights, etc. Perhaps they think that they are not a contributing factor in that society.

I know that many people may think that society is so crowded, I am just a small person in society, there is no point in changing it. But if no one changes, will society change? For me, I will try to do my part well first. I believe that gradually good things will spread and become more widespread.

Damn it!!! Sorry everyone, I got off topic while reviewing the book, my hands are faster than my brain.

In this book, there will be Mr. Alan Phan's comments on Vietnam's economy and the development direction for young entrepreneurs. Although many articles were written a long time ago, some of his predictions are not suitable for the present time. But still a lot of knowledge, his advice has a lot of value.

With rustic and simple writing, there is a bit of humor like the man himself, not a humorous, sarcastic tone like Tony's. Morning creates the feeling that you are directly being talked to by a senior. .

Thanks to the book, I also have a more general view of the Vietnamese economy as well as trends that may come in the future. Not only that, I also learned a lot from his thoughts on how to choose markets, products, and also... how to raise children.

A book I think is worth reading by a person I really respect and admire for his abilities and ethics!

Some reviews from readers on Tiki

That's my assessment. What do you think? If you want me to review a certain book or you have a good book you want to share with me and everyone, please comment below!