After Indonesia, let me talk about the Philippines.
When I first started working in Manila, I was a little braced for it. Everything I had been told in advance — the traffic, the paperwork — sounded exhausting. And yes, the traffic really was terrible. I can't defend it. I will probably never forget the day we didn't move on EDSA for two hours.
But almost every other memory I have is about the warmth of the people.
Filipinos laugh a lot. They laugh through blackouts. They laugh soaked to the skin in a sudden downpour. At first it puzzled me. Working alongside them, I began to understand: it isn't that they are carefree. They see hard things exactly as hard as they are — and then they choose to be cheerful anyway. That is strength. That strength rescued me more times than I can count.
I have someone who showed me that strength up close. A Filipina colleague I met in Manila — I'll keep her name to myself — who takes every unreasonable request I throw at her with a smile, and somehow has the groundwork finished before I've even started. Between me and my Indonesian teammate, who speaks no Japanese, she is the one who always bridges the language gap; without her, our conversations might still be nothing but hand gestures. Meticulous, patient, and more loyal than anyone. Getting to work with her is, I think, the single greatest piece of luck the Philippines gave me.
Many of the people I worked with were working for their families. On payday I would see them send money home, quietly proud. There is a word here, bayanihan — the old image of a whole village shouldering a house together and carrying it to a new place. Pulling together for family and neighbours isn't an ideal in the Philippines; it is simply what people do.
English everywhere, a population still growing, a workforce that is young, diligent and famously hospitable. Anyone who has actually worked in the Philippines can feel the country's potential in their bones. I am one of them.
Indonesia and the Philippines. What these two countries gave me is the foundation my company stands on.
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How the KAZENA apps feel to use, what we should fix, features you wish existed — if you run a small or medium business or work freelance in Indonesia or the Philippines, your voice is exactly what we want to hear. Messages in Bahasa Indonesia or English are answered by teammates who know your market from the inside. KAZENA Books is already set to launch in the Philippines and Indonesia — and if your company would like to bring it to other countries as a partner, or is interested in acquiring the system, we would love to hear from you too. We also take on new system development. We are a small team, so we cannot always start right away — but what we build carries made-in-Japan quality and stays close to how business really works here, one project at a time.
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