"What did you think about the meeting today, Sin?"
We were back in Hina's office and she was taking off her black jacket. I didn't fail to notice that she was wearing the cuff links I got her the other day.
"Everything was as expected, Miss. No surprises both regarding the tender and how everyone was handling the situation"
"Great"
Hina then flopped herself onto the bean bag and stretched her whole body by arcing back, held it for a few seconds, and released the tension with a big exhale.
"Hugh-. That was tense"
Hina doesn't normally say such things so I was a little surprised, but I could also see that at today's meeting, Hina was plotting something that she hadn't even told me yet.
"Miss, may I ask you something?"
"Go ahead Sin. Oh, before you do, please do take the seat"
At this point, I got pretty used to this strange arrangement of talking to my boss while both of us were lying back on bean bags.
"Is there something you are not telling me, Miss?"
"Did it look like that?"
"Yes"
"I guess I can't hide anything from you, heh"
"I didn't mean to be intrusive"
"It's fine. I feel like we've known each other for a long time already"
That was kinda true. Considering that it has been less than 2 months since I stood by Hina holding an umbrella during Chairman Chan's funeral, it felt like I've known her for at least 20 months.
Well, that probably just means she made me age 20 months during these 2 months. This girl wasn't easy to handle.
"So, do you mind telling me?"
"Big bro is really capable, huh?"
"Yes, he is"
"It looked like he was in charge of everything, right?"
"Yes"
"He would have made a good CEO for the Chan Group"
I agreed but did not say it.
"It's very unfortunate. But oh well… so, anyway. What's our next step for FTAP?"
"You seem to be quite committed to it"
"Don't forget you are the one who came up with the idea of hijacking FTAP"
"Only because you randomly declared that we will partner up with NDDC, and showed our weapon system that wasn't meant to be publicized yet"
"But it was a great idea from you. I think we are going in the right direction. I really want this FTAP to become as big as it can be"
"Any particular reason for that, Miss?"
"Let's just call it my pet project"
Well, that was a bit immature, but at least she had some work in the company that she genuinely enjoyed getting immersed in. And to be honest, I had special feelings for this project too, because after all, as Hina said it was in part my idea.
"The next step is, naturally, having the parliament send the proposal back to NDPD and asking them to expand it"
"I suppose you know the way to do it?"
"Yes, Miss. But I can't do it myself"
"How come?"
"We need to talk to some congressmen. I don't have the status to talk to and negotiate with them directly"
"Do you think it would go better if I tagged along? Like what we did with Dr. Han?"
"Miss, you should stop seeing it as you 'tagging along'. I'm the one who's following you"
"Haha. Fine. So what should I do?"
"Mr. Lam would be the best person for us to talk to now"
"And the reason is?"
"He heads the Defense Committee in the parliament. He is a reasonable and well-respected man"
"Which I suppose means we are not gonna sway him with carrots and sticks"
"Yes, Miss. He's an honest man - straight as an arrow. The best and the only way to convince him is to actually make him see that what we are proposing is in the best interest of the country"
"Excellent. I guess it's time to step up a gear then"
"As you wish"
I may not have the status to contact someone like Congressman Lam directly, but people like me are generally well-connected with secretaries and assistants of such people. Due to the obvious fact that he was heading the Defense Committee at the parliament, I was well acquainted with his secretary, who managed to get us a timeslot for a meeting at his office for some coffee. The reason for the choice of our meet-up was simple. This was his work, and he likes to get his work done in his workplace, not in some fancy restaurants.
"Thank you for your time, Mr. Lam"
"Nice to meet you, Miss Hina Chan"
As they exchanged greetings, I bowed in sync with Hina and took my standing spot as they got seated.
"Ms. Sin, please take a seat too"
Mr. Lam welcomed me to sit on the spot on the couch next to Hina. It was very nice of him that he cared to remember me and my name, as I've seen him numerous times together with Chairman Chan.
"So, I suppose there are some things you would like to discuss?"
After some idle chit-chat, Mr. Lam got straight into the agenda.
"Yes, Mr. Lam. I came here for a specific topic I would really appreciate it if you could provide some advice on these matters", Hina spoke as rehearsed.
"Certainly, if it is an appropriate request and if I could be of help"
The strong relationship that Chairman Chan built with him previously helped a lot in giving him a friendly attitude to Hina. We have rehearsed this bit before so that we take turns to say specific phrases, each of them playing to our different strengths.
"Mr. Lam. We are interested in the Fast Track Acquisition Program that NDPD is proposing. We believe it is a great step forward in streamlining the acquisition process"
I broke the ice first.
"Yes, I have high hopes for it as well. It's a small start but I think it will help us acquire and deploy the new products in a timely manner"
"Is that enough though?"
Here comes our bet on Hina's youthful energy. To some others, it might come across as being a little rude, but when Hina does it to Mr. Lam, to him it would seem this young girl has some interesting ideas.
"I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts, Miss. Chan"
Mr. Lam smiled back at her like a grandfather amused by his young granddaughter's new ideas.
"As I understand, the program focuses on acquiring the products that are almost ready for production", Hina continued.
"That is necessary for fast acquisition, yes"
"Could we also apply the same philosophy to the R&D of new technologies?"
Not my turn yet.
"I'm afraid no. Development of new systems takes many years, and the requirements are planned via consensus of a large body of government agencies, which also takes time. The vision of the actual end users - the armed forces, must align with the technological viewpoint of NDDC, the procurement plan of NDPD, and budget allocation from the parliament. That's why the 5-year plan is called a 'short-term plan' and the 10-year plan is called a 'medium-term plan'. I suppose you've heard of these?"
His tone wasn't condescending. He was just being kind to take time to explain to Hina, who is obviously inexperienced.
"I'm sorry, maybe it's due to my inexperience. But to me, it seems that makes us companies lazy"
Ok, after this I'm taking over.
"Oh?"
"As things are, if the current FTAP goes ahead as is and focuses on ready-to-produce products, with such a limited budget as it is now, big companies like us, Wanda, and KAK wouldn't be too involved with it", this felt more natural coming from me than from Hina.
"That is not a bad thing, Miss Chan. It gives small to medium businesses some chance"
"And kills the incentive for the big companies to invest money to develop new products proactively", Hina took over again.
Mr. Lam leaned forward a little to give more attention to what Hina was saying. What we needed now would sound way too rehearsed if Hina were to memorize these words and speak them herself, so she passed the turn to me to speak.
"All the companies are following the 5 to 10-year plan. Everyone is looking at the armed forces to come up with new requirements. Everyone is waiting for NDDC to conduct a preliminary concept study. Everyone is waiting for NDPD to draft a procurement plan. Everyone, all of us defense companies with plenty of budgets available, is waiting for things to be spoon-fed to us"
"Very good point, Sin. Although I don't think many of these companies would like what you've just said"
Mr. Lam grinned. This was a well-known problem in this government-driven industry.
Then Hina pulled out a picture of our small missile launcher system to show Mr. Lam.
"Mr. Lam. We have developed this all by ourselves with no requests received from anyone"
"I wouldn't comment on this particular product, which I probably shouldn't have seen, but please do continue"
Okay, now the punch line from me.
"If we slightly change the FTAP, so that it is not just looking for almost finished products on a small scale, but fund for the fast completion of the new break-through products that the companies have designed and developed with their own funding, with their own innovations and all the design and technological know-how invested in it. We won't have to wait for 5 years"
"Interesting, but wouldn't that challenge NDDC's authority over defense technology R&D?"
"If FTAP was to be expanded in such a way, NDDC will surely be involved from the start"
"I'm still concerned that this changes the original intention of FTAP though, that it helps small to medium businesses to be creative and have a chance to win these contracts"
"We have no intention of going against that goal. I think it would be perfectly fair if the government would make it a requirement that X percent of the product should consist of sub-components made by businesses under a certain size. This will also necessitate companies like us sharing parts of technology to small to medium businesses, which will benefit the whole eco-system greatly"
This made Mr. Lam's eyes open wide a little.
"And you guys would accept that?"
"Gladly", Hina chimed in.
"To sum up, we think it's about time that companies take the initiative to develop innovative products and propose them to the armed forces. If FTAP supports this, everyone will try to compete to develop something newer and better. NDDC can evaluate which product technology is closer to the completion too, rather than NDPD focusing on which products would be quicker to just buy", I hope this sold the idea to him.
Mr. Lam let out a short laugh and leaned back on his couch.
"You young people sure have more energy. I like that"
"And Sir, if I may say so-"
Uh-oh. It sounded like Hina was about to add something we did not plan.
Gees, she always does this.
"I believe FTAP should have the ability to over-ride the 5 to 10-year development plans"
Holy shit, Hina!
"Miss. Chan. That is unheard of. We do not do things that way"
Hina then shrugged and added.
"Alright. The alternative is to set requirements now and get everything 5 to 10 years later when they are already outdated. Maybe it's my inexperience, but it does not make sense to me"
You silly girl, but you made a good point.
But the implication for this is…
"I will need to think about this more, Miss. Chan. But I can't say you are wrong"
"Hehe, thank you Gramps"
Jesus, don't call him Gramps!
"Haha, no problem, young lady"