All we seem to hear about China is how technologically advanced and productive they are.
Economics.
Americanos can fall into the "techy" trap when they come to asia.
Almost all the construction of highways and roads in the Philippines is done by hand.
So you end up with "weird" paradoxes like this. In the business district in Makati, they need to lay a fiber optic cable.
They have to break the cement, dig a trench, then fill it back up again.
Why makes more sense ? Hire 3 guys with a jack hammer, then 1 backhoe operator and then a cement truck ?
Or get 20 guys with hammers and cold chisels, break the cement by hand. Dig the hole by hand, mix the cement by hand ?
In USA the first option makes sense. Asia second option. Cost per day for workers is $100 per day.
Capital expenditure for hammers, cold chisels and shovels, maybe $200. Plus hammer and cold chisel will never break
Jack hammer and backhoe might break, cost of repairs relatively expensive. Cost of a backhoe is $30K, jack hammer $10K, you will never get your investment back.
For the same reason you see trucks etc. That look like their are left over from the American and Jap occupation. Even if you have to hire 1 guy who sole purpose in life is to fix that 1 truck. You are better off economically then buying a new truck.
Computers same story. A lot of machines a revery old here. It will not run the lastest windoze. Also most of the software on these machines is pirated.
If the operator takes 4 times as long to do the job, who cares. In a lot of the offices, billing etc is done by hand. (as the younger generation is taking over changing slowly). In some cases the computer is just there for "show". It is operational, but all the paper work is done by hand. Many companies are still run by an some old guy. They are very "traditional" and do not trust new fangled technology.
Again you can end up with paradoxes. A hospital might have the latest MRI machines, etc. Meanwhile it's billing office looks like something that came out of victorian england. "Traditional Offices" keep small armies of "messengers". 1/2 of the time they are literally sitting around doing nothing. I think to some degree it is a "prestige" thing. Most places still have uniforms, and maybe having a ton of messengers makes you look more important.
I digress, but having a lot of people accompanying you, is a sign of importance. So you have a driver to operate vehicle. Then you have a "body guard". If you are like an important politico, you might have another vehicle which is full of support staff. If you are super important, you might have a small convoy. Then when you go to a meeting. These people all go hang out with all the other guy's people and gossip.
