Day 3 - Reflections

In the morning, we went to the Taiwan Business Bank and a pawnshop. Unlike the past, today is pretty different as the tour is conducted in a Q and A manner. This allows us to further understand how they operate since we are able to ask them questions. I felt that the Taiwan banks are much more friendlier as compared to the ones in Singapore. In Singapore, I believe that most wouldn't even let students take a look of how they work. Yet in Taiwan, the manager was really nice and friendly. Despite the amount of questions, he answered them all patiently and he always try to make sure that we can understand him. Although the structures of the bank are rather similar, the requirements of entering this industry is rather different. I spotted a few similarities. For example, north banks provided the same service of loaning, montage and investments. Yet, the difference in requirement is pretty different. According to the manager, it is not necessary to have a strong math background. Instead, it is the theory exam that they have to go through that is really important. Also, before coming for this trip, I always have thus question in mind: where does the bank store their money? Today, I finally got the answer! In Taiwan, they had this 中央银行 who is in charge of all the banks. All the money will be sent there and will be stored and check regularly. The visit to the pawnshop is also really interesting. The boss there showed us a few equipments that is used to check the quality of the diamond or gold. He also told us that in the past, pawnshop is usually found in the alley rather than somewhere so open. This is because of the conservative thinking of the Chinese - if they are caught pawning something, they will 'lose face'. I think this is one of the difference I spotted. In Singapore, pawnshop is pretty common to find. Also, in Singapore, the pawnshops do not accept cars and motors. Yet in Taiwan, they accept almost everything as long as it is not a house or a living object. But what really impress me is how the pawnshop operates despite the high risk involved. Almost everything is based on experience and I find this pretty risky. What if you make a wrong judgement? The pawnshop might just close down.

All in all, I really enjoy the visit to the bank and the pawnshop today. This is something that I definitely can't learn from the textbook. :D