Injury time...

I just got back from a dinner with the state government, where I witnessed a lot of "cultural show". First, we culturally dont respect time! Culturally refers to a rampant practice of disrespect of time. The guest of honor was late by 15 minutes and dare to make the " time is money" statement in his speech.
I told my Japanese friends that if politicians got hold to the mic, till lightning strike do they part. I told him, the shortest politician speech will take 30 minutes and bingo, the CM speech took exactly 30 minutes. My friend must have thought that I am some sort of a clairvoyance?!
The first 10 min, everything was according to the Shakespearly written text, and the next 20 was turbulence melodramatic grandmother story. No direction, he just didnt want to stop!
From where I came from, they can have a convocation for a university faculty with 6 departments consists of more than 600 students in 30 minutes! And that was Japan. They built their civilization just with that one resource, time! Time to think, action, analyze and improve. They dont have gold to mine, tin, silver, needless to think of oil. They have got nothing. The soil is not fertile enough for commercial plants except for rice or corn. They have literally nothing! But they have time, that's why they treasure it so much. Their trains timetable book is as thick as your pocket size dictionary and you wont find any single late train anywhere, any time!
Once a support Japanese member from our sister factory was already turning red, because after 5 minutes late, there was still no sign of anybody coming? He was almost screaming. Perhaps because we have all other resources that have made us ignoring this unrecreatable resource.
When I was on my first trip to Japan, a Malaysian told me that he perceived Japanese as an economic animal, as they work very hard for this worldly satisfaction. I tend to think the same way when I was a student. But after years of working in Japanese company, that perspective has changed. How do you feel owning or driving a Japanese car, electrical goods etc? I can say they are reliable. Would you change them for any other origin? For me, a definite no!Thats is the price we have to pay for a satisfied customer. It takes a lot of work to make customers happy with your products. They are not economic animal, they work hard for their sense of resposibility to their customers and their company. We are the so called religious, but are we responsible enough with our products/services?
Some might say, if you work smart, perhaps you could solve it in a shorter time. But to them, if you can solve it in a shorter time, then you should be able to find some other things to solve with your spare time. Time is precious!