A bizarre stereotype in boardrooms
It is not in Outsider’s nature to reinforce stereotypes of any kind, gender or race or otherwise. Sometimes, these things just land in his lap when he’s not even seeking them out.
Such was the case at a recent YTML media roundtable, held in the boardroom of the technology solutions provider for advisers.
The chief operating officer and co-founder, Piew Yap started off the session pointing to the table in the boardroom and said it was the same size as a ping pong table, and was divided in the middle where the net would normally be placed.
Outsider is paraphrasing here, but Yap then dropped the zinger of the afternoon: ‘can we get more Asian than this!’.
Later that same afternoon, while explaining how he and his colleague co-founded YTML in 2010, he commented that he was poor then, and he continues to be poor now.
Seems fitting. Table tennis was invented in the United Kingdom, the heart of modern capitalism, in the 19th century as an after-dinner parlour game for the upper class. The game soared in popularity in China 100 years later. It transformed from a game for the upper class to one enjoyed by all including the proletariat.
American journalist, Edgar Snow even noted the sport was “bizarrely” popular among the Communist Party of China’s military forces in the 1930s.
At least the founders of the firm have a ready-made ping pong table at their disposal to channel their energy as they burn the midnight oil to rise from working class to upper class.
AUTHOR
The Outsider
Recommended for you
When it comes to a business merger, achieving the voting approval can be just the first step.
When it comes to human interest stories, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority is keen to let the organisations it regulates know its staff are more than just faceless automatons.
Outsider is hopeful of the news from advice firm Invest Blue that it is trialling a move to a nine-day fortnight for its staff.
With Valentines’ Day just around the corner, Outsider had better get his thinking cap on as to what he can buy for Mrs O this year.
