Dear Michael,
Yes, I use a Western name so that Westerner can pronounce or call me
easier.
Going to the various standardization meetings is a very expensive way of
conducting business. I participated in several such meetings, such as
AFII world font meetings. As you said, the meetings were great, make a
lot of friends, etc. However, I also see some very undesirable things.
First, due to the huge amount of money involved, only rich guys can
participate the meetings. Rich guys may not be the right guys for such a
standard. Second, some countries send their delegates to the meetings as
a reward, not because that person knows the subject matter. This took
place many times, particularily for mainland China. Some of their
delegations were sent to the meeting more or less like a tourist. He/she
couldn't speak English, don't know what the subject is, and some time
even vote for something totally contradict to the stand of his/her
country, and he/she may not even a aware of that. I saw it happened in
front of my eyes.
Thus, I think, a better way must be found. Standardization shouldn't be
a rich guys' game, and should have only the qualified persons to
participate. Perhaps, internet is a good choice. And this can be done in
several stages. For example, the first stage can be just an open meeting
for a period of time (1 month, 2 months?), anybody can voice his/her
opinion(s). In this stage, plenty of discussions can take place.
Debates/challenges/proposal/counter-proposal, etc., should be
encouraged. Then, in the second stage, the voting members from each
country will then vote, based on what they read from the stage one. Of
course, this is just a thought for everybody to think about.
Smiles,
Timothy Huang
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