No Greater Love

A little Vietnamese orphan, a tragic mortar attack and an act of love and bravery combine to make this story. I don't know how much of it is true—all, part of none—but it was told to me as fact. And it might be all true—stranger things have happened in war. Besides, this story makes my heart feel good, and if the truth be known, it still brings tears to my eyes after all these years.
The mortar rounds had landed in the small village. Whatever their planned target had been is lost in the agony of the Vietnam war, but they had landed in a small orphanage run by an unnamed missionary group. The missionaries and one or two children had been killed outright and several children had been wounded, including one young girl, about eight years old. Since the missionaries were no longer able to tend to their young charges, people from the village helped as much as they could, but it was a couple of hours before medical help arrived in response to a runner who had been sent to a neighboring town that had radio contact with the American Forces.
The medical help was a young American Navy doctor, and an equally young Navy nurse, who arrived in a jeep with only their medical kits. A quick survey of the injured quickly established the young girl as the most critically injured and it was clear that without immediate action she would die from loss of blood and shock. A blood transfusion was imperative, but their limited supplies did not include plasma, so a matching blood type was required. A quick test showed that neither American had the correct blood type but several of the uninjured children did.
The Navy doctor spoke a little "pidgin" Vietnamese, and the Navy nurse spoke a little high school French, while the children spoke no English and some French. Using a combination of what little common language they could find, together with much impromptu sign language, they tried to explain to their frightened audience that unless they could replace some of their little friend's lost blood, she would certainly die. They then asked if any one would be willing to give some of their blood to help.
Their request was met with wide-eyed silence. Their little patient's life hung in the balance. Without the life-giving blood, she would surely die, yet they could only get the blood if one of these frightened children volunteered. After several long moments, a little hand slowly and waveringly went up, dropped back down, and went up again.
"Oh, thank you!" the nurse exclaimed in French. "What is your name?"
"Heng," came the mumbled reply.
Heng was quickly laid on a pallet, his arm swabbed with alcohol and the needle inserted in his vein. Through this ordeal Heng lay stiff, silent, and wide-eyed. After a moment, he let out a shuddering sob, quickly covering his face with his free hand.
"Is it hurting, Heng?" the doctor asked.
Heng shook his head silently, but after a few moments another sob escaped and once more he tried to cover up his crying. Again the doctor asked him if the needle in his arm was hurting him and again Heng shook his head. But now his occasional sob gave way to a steady silent crying, his eyes screwed tightly shut, his fist in his mouth trying to stifle his sobs.
The medical team was very concerned because the needle should not have been hurting their tiny patient, yet something was obviously very wrong. At this point, a Vietnamese nurse arrived to help. Seeing the little boy's distress, she spoke rapidly in Vietnamese, listened to his reply, and quickly answered him again in her soothing, reassuring voice, while stroking his forehead as she talked. After a moment, the tiny little patient stopped crying, opened his eyes, and looked questioningly at the Vietnamese nurse and when she nodded, a look of great relief spread over his face.
Looking up, the Vietnamese nurse said quietly to the Americans, "He thought he was dying. He misunderstood you. He thought you had asked him to give all his blood so the little girl could live."
"But why would he be willing to do that?" asked the Navy nurse.
The Vietnamese nurse repeated the question to the little boy who answered simply, "She's my friend."
Jesus said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).
—Col. John W. Mansur, Used by permission.

3 Ways We Failed Our Way to Happiness

I.  Rejected from Seven Universities

When I was 18, I wanted to be a computer scientist.  So I applied to seven U.S. universities known for computer science.  MIT, Cal Berkley, Georgia Tech, etc.  But I got rejected by all of them.
Soon thereafter, a high school guidance counselor told me to apply to The University of Central Florida in Orlando, which had a rapidly growing computer science and engineering program.  Out of desperation, I did.  And I got accepted and received a scholarship.
And when I settled on Orlando, the move changed my life.
I met Angel there – my wife and the love of my life.  And I met a professor, Dr. Eaglan, who convinced me to switch from the school of computer science to the school of computer engineering, with a strong focus in web design and technical writing – two skills I use today to run the blog you are reading now (a website that makes me happy and financially supports my family).
If I hadn’t been rejected by those seven computer science schools, neither of these priceless encounters would have taken place.

II.  Your Writing is Not Good Enough

While in school, I began to enjoy my technical writing classes so much that I decided to take a few creative writing electives too.  I absolutely fell in love with writing inspiring stories and expressing myself in prose.
So I applied for a part-time editorial position at the school newspaper.  I sent them five articles I had written along with my application.  Two days later I received an email which cordially explained that my writing was not good enough.
That afternoon, I went home with a bruised ego and told Angel what had happened.  She hugged me and said, “Regardless of what anyone says, if writing makes you happy, you should keep writing.  Because that’s what happy writers do.  They write.”
And after a bit more discussion, she added, “I like writing too.  We should start our own little writing club and write together.”  A few minutes later, Angel and I turned on my computer and registered the domain name marcandangel.com, and our blogging days began.
In other words, if my five articles hadn’t been rejected by the school newspaper, the article you’re reading right now would never have been written.

III.  Fired for Doing the Right Thing

After college Angel used her business degree to land a head store manager position at a major retailer.  She was in her twenties and she was running a $40,000,000 store all by herself.  Although some of the regional executives thought she was too young, she was doing far too well for them to do anything about it.
Until one day in 2009, when one of her floor managers got a DUI on a Friday evening and went to jail.  He didn’t have enough money to post a $600 bail, so he called Angel to let her know that he would not be able to make it to work the next day.  Angel decided to lend him the $600 he needed.  The regional executives found out about this and fired Angel the next morning without a valid explanation.
Suddenly Angel had a lot of free time on her hands.  While she looked around for another job, she spent her afternoons marketing our blog.  She learned all about social media marketing, and opened accounts for us on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites – the primary source of traffic to our blog today.
We didn’t know it then, but the traffic was going to grow exponentially over the next three years, and by January 2012 our blog would be making enough money to completely replace Angel’s lost salary, allowing her to work on it full time and get paid for being happily passionate.
If Angel hadn’t been fired, none of this would have happened.

Failures Along the Road to Happiness

As our friend Steve Jobs once said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.  So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.  You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.  This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
The truth is, it happens just like that.  What seems like the end of the road may just be a cul de sac.  It feels like rejection.  It feels like failure.  But it isn’t.
You simply ran out of road on that route.  Time to back up, turn around, and look for a new route to get where you want to go.  And as long as you keep smiling and moving forward, the road ahead is going to be far better than you can imagine.  Because eventually, through all its twists and turns, it leads to happiness.
So if you’re currently struggling, hang in there.  Remember, sometimes the best thing that can possibly happen to you in the long run is not getting exactly what you want right now.

20 Good Habits to Start in Your 20s

Now well into my 30s, there are several good habits I’m thankful I started in my 20s, and several more I wish I had started a decade ago.  If you’re still in your 20s, or even if you’re not, I challenge you to implement the habits below into your daily routine, one at a time, starting today.  A year from now, I guarantee you’ll appreciate the results.

1. Focus on the activities and people that make you happy. – Sometimes we make things complicated when they are really quite simple:  Find what it is that makes you happy and spend more time doing it.  Find who it is that makes you smile and spend more time with them.  Living your dream is really just a state of mind.  It’s feeling comfortable in your own skin, and realizing that where you are at any given moment is exactly where you want to be.  Thus, happiness and success in life is simply the gratifying combination liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking who you do it with.  Read Stumbling on Happiness.
2. Trust your instincts on new opportunities. – Life is too short to wait.  Every new day is another chance to change your life.  Every great accomplishment starts with the decision to try.  Trust that little voice inside your head that says, “What if…” and then GO DO IT.  You would be surprised how often “what if” works.  And no, you’re not obligated to win every time.  You’re obligated to keep trying – to do the best you can do every day – to be better than you were yesterday.
3. Build the courage to face your fears. – Everything you want is on the other side of fear.  Don’t ever hesitate to give yourself a chance to be everything you are capable of being.  It’s better to cross the line and suffer the consequences of a lesson learned, than to just stare at that line for the rest of your life and always wonder.  And remember, courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid; courage means you don’t let your fear stop you.
4. Focus on the resources you do have access to. – It all begins and ends in your mind.  What you give power to has power over you, if you allow it.  Too many of us are hung up on what we don’t have, can’t have, or won’t ever have.  We spend too much energy being down, when we could use that same energy – if not less of it – doing, or at least trying to do, some of the things we really want to do.  So focus on the opportunities you DO have, and exploit the resources you DO have access to.
5. Be less busy, and more productive. – Incessant busyness is often a sign of ineffectiveness and laziness.  Because it’s easy to be busy – just partake in a bunch of random activities that drains all your time.  Doing so justifies never having enough time to clean, cook for yourself, go out with friends, meet new people, etc.  Right?  Wrong.  Don’t just get things done; get the right things done.  Results are always more important than the time it takes to achieve them.  Read Getting Things Done.
6. Make your goals a priority. – Never put off or give up on a goal that’s important to you.  Not because you still have tomorrow to start or try again, but because you may not have tomorrow at all.  Life is shorter than it sometimes seems.  Make today count.
7. Accept your humanness. – You can stop pretending.  It feels good to own up to stuff… to admit that you’re human – a work in progress – a beautiful mess.  You’re fine.  Having a little anxiety is fine.  Being a little fearful is fine.  Your secrets are fine.  You’re a good person.  You’re intelligent.  You’re blowing things out of proportion.  You’re fine just the way you are.
8. Seek less approval from others. – Your ideas and choices don’t have to be on everyone’s ‘approved’ list.  Regardless of the opinions of others, at the end of the day the only reflection staring back at you in the mirror is your own.  Make sure you’re proud of who that person is.  Approach others with the belief that you’re a good person, whether they respond positively or not.  It’s normal to want the people around you to like you, but it becomes a self-imposed burden when too much of your behavior is explicitly designed to constantly reassure you of their approval.
9. Ignore society’s comparisons. – Constantly checking your life against one of society’s prewritten stories of how things ‘should’ be is a phony way of living.  It’s sort of like renting your identity.  Just be you.  You are far more nuanced than anyone else’s narrative you try to fit yourself into, and more complex than society’s story of what ‘should’ be happening.
10. Believe in your ability to succeed. – You control the ultimate result of where you will end up, what you may become, and how successful you can be.  No matter what your current circumstances are, always maintain a strong belief in your ability to succeed, and then put your beliefs to work.  Do so, and in time you will amaze yourself.
11. Manage your money before it starts to manage you. – Too many people buy things they don’t need with money they don’t have to impress people they don’t know.  Don’t be one of them.  Bottom line:  It’s easier to find long-term wealth by needing and spending less, instead of making more.  So spend less than you earn, and always go without until you have the cash in hand.  Keep six months of your salary in an emergency savings account just in case you lose your job or have an emergency that prevents you from working for a prolonged period of time.  And keep a few extra hundred dollars on hand for unexpected expenses, such as car and home repair.  Read I Will Teach You To Be Rich.
12. Let the wrong people go. – You can try your hardest, you can do everything and say everything, but sometimes people just aren’t worth trying over anymore, and they aren’t worth worrying about.  It’s important to know when to let go of someone who only brings you down.  The moment someone tells you that you’re not good enough is the moment you know you’re better off than they are, and better off without them.
13. Appreciate your true friends, and return the favor. – A friend who understands your tears and troubles is far more valuable than a hundred friends who only show up for your smiles and joys.  Because a true friend accepts who you truly are, and also helps you become who you are capable of being.  Friendships like this require more than just finding the right person, they also require you to be the right person.  When someone believes in you enough to lift you up, try not to let them down.  True friendship is a sweet responsibility to be nurtured, not an opportunity to be exploited.
14. Do everything with a touch of kindness. – Whatever can be done, can be done more effectively when you add kindness.  Whatever words are spoken, will always be more compelling when expressed with kindness.  The kind deeds you exert in just one moment can have a positive impact that lasts a lifetime.  Your days will be brighter and your years fuller when you add kindness to your purpose.  Choose to be kind every day, and you’re truly choosing to live in a better world.
15. Choose happiness. – If you can find joy in doing nothing, you can find it in everything.  Learn to experience happiness without a reason and you can create happiness for any reason.  Realize that happiness and joy are not always the result of good things, oftentimes they are the cause of good things.  There is nothing you need in order to be happy other than the choice to be.  So let go of the worries you have for what may or may not come your way.  Focus instead on the good things that you can give, create, inspire and choose to experience, right here, right now.  Don’t allow the world to pull you down with its negativity.  Choose to transform the world around you with your own positivity.
16. Learn to cope with anger effectively. – When you’re infuriated with someone else, take a few deep breaths, sit quietly, and think for a moment.  Acknowledge the true source of your anger.  Anger bleeds from the inside out.  Remember that we need to fix ourselves first before we attempt to fix or influence others.  Trying to change others is a common recipe for prolonging the suffering.  Taking responsibility for changing yourself, and how you deal with the actions of others, is a recipe for growth, freedom, and happiness.
17. Accept some responsibility for the way others treat you. – Yes, on occasion you will run into someone who is downright wicked, but for the most part, others will look to you for direction on how you want to be treated.  They will test you to see what is acceptable, and then treat you the way you let them treat you.  Remember, you can’t control them, but you can control what you tolerate.
18. Work on your inner beauty too. – Our outward acts are a manifestation of who we are on the inside.  Let’s remind ourselves to love who we are from the inside out – to be pretty happy, handsomely kind, pretty smart, handsomely unique, pretty loving, handsomely lovable, pretty quirky, handsomely funny, pretty cool – and not just pretty and handsome.  Read A New Earth.
19. Introduce a little variety into your routine. – Remember that the way you’ve always done it isn’t the only way.  It’s unlikely that one of the things you’ll regret when you’re 70 is not having consumed enough beer in your 20s, or not having bought enough $6 lattes from Starbucks, or not having frequented the same night club for years.  But the regret of missing out on opportunities is a real, toxic feeling.  You’ve figured out drinking and going out.  You’ve had enough lattes.  It’s time to figure something else out.  Every corner you turn or street you walk down has a new experience waiting for you.  You just have to see the opportunity and be adventurous enough to run with it.
20. Always keep in mind that life is somewhat unpredictable. – Some of the great moments in your life won’t necessarily be the things you do; they’ll be things that happen to you.  That doesn’t mean you can’t take action to affect the outcome of your life.  You have to take action, and you will.  But don’t forget that on any day, you can step out the front door and your whole life can change in an instant – for better or worse.  To an extent, the universe has a plan that’s always in motion.  A butterfly flaps its wings and it starts to rain – it’s a scary thought, but it’s part of life’s cycle.  All these little parts of the machine, constantly working – sometimes forcing you to struggle, and sometimes making sure you end up exactly in the right place at the right time.

Vietnam's banking problems reflect turbulence in the economy

Scale of debt in banking sector and bloated state firms lays bare pernicious influences of cronyism in Asian tiger economy

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Vietnamese youths on parade. The ruling Communist party recently censured its own politburo over the economy. Photograph: Desmond Boylan/Reuters

Vietnam's stuttering economy, once a darling of the World Bank and a rising tiger of south-east Asia, received a further blow this week with the bailout of the crisis-struck state-owned Sacombank.
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) announced it was preparing to inject 28 trillion Vietnamese dong ($1.4bn) into Sacombank following the resignation of the latter's chairman, Dang Van Thanh. This is the second time in recent months the central bank has found itself shoring up its ailing client banks. In August, it took the unprecedented step of publicly assuring depositors their money would be safe following the arrest of the tycoon Nguyen Duc Kien, co-founder of Vietnam's fourth-most valuable bank, Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank.
However, Vietnam's troubles run wider than its banking sector. In 2009, in a bid to stave off the worst of the global economic downturn, the government made a huge tranche of cheap credit available to its giant state-owned enterprises (SOEs), which dominate key sectors of the Vietnamese economy. Many of these SOEs used this credit to diversify into industries in which they had little or no experience. PetroVietnam has significant concerns in hotels, securities, real estate, insurance and even taxis. Vietnam Electricity (EVN) has holdings in telecommunications and education, and shipbuilding giant Vinashin in catering, distilling and insurance.
For Vinashin, matters reached critical mass in August when it found itself pleading with creditors for a stay of execution on loan repayments. Vinashin has declared debts of 639bn VND. Other state giants are faring no better. PetroVietnam has debts of 72.3tr VND, EVN 62.8tr VND, and mining giant Vinacomin 19.6tr VND. Of the total owed by the SOEs, 200tr VND is considered bad debt.
The current difficulties come against a backdrop of Vietnam's dramatic economic rise. In two decades it has catapulted itself from one of the world's poorest countries into the World Bank's lower middle-income bracket. In real terms, per capita incomes have grown to $1,260 in 2009, from $110 20 years earlier. The party hasn't been slow to share the benefits of that rise. In 1993, 58% of the country was thought to be living below the poverty line, compared with 12% last year.
In many ways, Vietnam is a victim of its own success. Dominic Mellor, country economist at the Asian Development Bank, says concern over the country's banking system began two years ago. "While the real sector has raced ahead, growth within the financial sector has lagged significantly behind," he said. As the wider economy has blossomed, the central bank's ability to regulate and monitor that activity has stalled. Credit growth has been startling, yet there has been "little facility to assess risk and no central control over where that credit is going", according to Mellor.
In July, the central bank said bad loans comprised 8.6% of loans in the banking system; around double its previous estimate and the highest in south-east Asia.
Resentment is growing at the close – often familial – links between the key players among Vietnam's elite. Prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung's daughter, Nguyen Thanh Phuong, is rumoured to be one of the country's richest people, running Viet Capital Asset Management and a brokerage firm, Viet Capital Securities. Her brother is Vietnam's deputy construction minister. Sacombank's outgoing chairman appointed his son, Dang Hong Anh, vice-chairman. In April, To Linh Huong, the 24-year-old daughter of leading politburo member To Huy Rua, was appointed chair and chief executive of state construction company Vinaconex.
In the blogosphere, questions are being asked as to how long the situation can continue. Certainly, the ruling Communist party seems committed to reform. Two weeks ago it took the unprecedented step of publicly censuring its own ruling politburo over handling of the economy. However, earlier reforms have led to the growth of highly influential vested interests that are now working to determine exactly how far this latest set of economic changes can go.
Vietnam still boasts a stable political climate and a low-wage economy. Its burgeoning manufacturing base remains attractive to international investors. However, five years ago, multinational companies seeking to spread their bets would look to Vietnam as a natural complement to operations in China. Now that is not so certain, according to Mellor: "The perception has changed. Now people are talking about Indonesia, Myanmar [Burma] and the Philippines. Vietnam is going to have to work hard to maintain its edge."
Vietnam must now face up to reforming its state-owned enterprises. As long as they continue to leach credit from the wider economy, fundamental economic changes – including in the banking sector – will prove near impossible. Moreover, with continued foreign investment dependent upon successful reform within an increasingly competitive regional market, its importance has never been so great. Whatever happens in the wider economy, Vietnam looks set for a long and troublesome passage through its difficulties.

Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung urged to resign

A member of the Communist-dominated parliament in Vietnam has in a rare show of dissent told PM Nguyen Tan Dung that he should resign for his mistakes in handling the economy.

Duong Trung Quoc said that it was time for the prime minister to take responsibility, not just apologise.
He urged Mr Dung to lead what he called a resignation culture.
Mr Dung responded to the attack by saying the Communist party had appointed him the top job.
"The party assigned me to continue to be the prime minister," he said.
"I did not lobby, I did not ask for, nor refuse, any assignment given by the party and state."
Mr Dung has been grappling with Vietnam's stagnating economy and a string of scandals.
Correspondents say that the attack on the prime minister on Wednesday was so unusual because it was made in front of TV cameras in parliament.
A second lawmaker, Nguyen Ba Thuyen, was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying that Mr Dung's failure to set out a plan to deal with Vietnam's economic woes had damaged public trust in the Communist leadership.
Vietnam is currently battling slow economic growth, high inflation, falling foreign direct investment and rising concern over the high level of debt in its fragile banking system.
Mr Dung, 62, was spared disciplinary action at a key Communist party meeting last month over a series of scandals that have tainted the country's leadership.
His government is accused of overseeing a culture of corruption at state-owned enterprises like Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) and Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines).
In March, nine top officials were jailed for their roles in the near-bankruptcy of Vinashin.
In September, the former chairman of Vinalines was arrested abroad and extradited for ''alleged economic crimes''.
Mr Dung has been prime minister since 2006 and came into office amid expectations that he would continue economic and political reforms in the country.
However, a global financial crisis two years later saw Vietnam's economy slump after decades of high growth.

Vietnam will focus on reform

Posted By Ian Bremmer Wednesday, November 28, 2012 - 5:23 AM Share

By Roberto Herrera-Lim
It's easy to disparage Vietnam, whose reputation as the poster child for the economic potential of frontier market countries has taken a beating in recent years. Inflation is a persistent threat, growth is slowing, and the country's banks and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are struggling with a potentially destabilizing level of bad debts. And to top it all off, Vietnam's political leaders are fighting among themselves when the situation calls for firm action. As a result, foreign investors are left scratching their heads and wondering if Vietnam will be able to build the institutions and capabilities needed to move into the ranks of the emerging market nations.  
Vietnam's institutions were not prepared for strong growth. That much is clear from the crisis that has played out over the past few years during which Vietnam's institutions and leaders mismanaged capital inflows, resulting in inflation, bad investment decisions, and near-rogue banks and SOEs. All this occurred on Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's watch, and while he has survived at least two challenges to his leadership, he is weakened and chastened. As a result, consensus decision-making will play a greater role in coming years, while Dung's competitors (including President Truong Tan Sang) reduce his control over policymaking and tighten oversight. The near-term consequence of this dynamic will be a greater likelihood that factional competition will result in uneven policies and conflicting signals.
But don't count Vietnam out of the game yet. Historically, crises have been effective at forcing effective policy choices from the government (such as the 2001 ouster of the party's then general secretary Le Kha Phiu). The current situation is unlikely to result in Dung's exit, but it will spur a serious reexamination of economic policy, especially when it comes to better allocating investment. There is, after all, still a broad consensus among Vietnam's elites that previous reforms should remain in place and that long-term growth and sustained, equitable improvements in the quality of life are needed to ensure the survival of the communist party. The country's economy could also benefit from structural factors that are encouraging investors to consider manufacturing locations other than China.
It may be tempting for manufacturers to look to other countries in Asia, but they should not discount Vietnam's reemergence as a viable investment destination. The country's leaders may be squabbling, but they understand that failure to reform is a larger threat to their primacy than the uncertainty that comes with change.
Roberto Herrera Lim is a Director in Eurasia Group's Asia practice.

Manchester United's Robin van Persie nets winner in seven-goal epic

After the storm came the drought. This was a contest that featured a seven-goal avalanche inside 34 minutes but then fell barren, yet was still unmissable and had Sir Alex Ferguson branding the experience "agony".
If it was the kind of pell-mell exchange all managers hate and neutrals love, the first-half count should have actually been eight – to break the record for an opening period – but Robin van Persie's strike near the break was ruled out wrongly.
For Ferguson a near-perfect day, in which Chelsea lost and Manchester City drew, ended with Manchester United's lead extended to three points before next Sunday's derby at the Etihad Stadium.
He told ESPN: "It was agony. The worst defending of this season and we needed to do something about it. We're needing to rescue the situation all the time. Fortunately we have players who can do that."
To call this the direst performance from a rearguard that had previously conceded the first goal 13 times in 21 matches in all competitions illustrates how manic an evening this was. To Ferguson's chagrin, his team contrived to take this tally to 14 as the breathless 26 minutes into which all seven strikes were compressed began.
Eight minutes had been played when this chronically leaky United defence allowed Jay Tabb to turn the ball to Jobi McAnuff. He swung in a cross, Jonny Evans's header went straight to Hal Robson-Kanu and his volley beat Anders Lindegaard via a deflection from the defender.
The first of United's two equalisers came when Michael Carrick found Anderson, who moved the ball on to Ashley Young, and when the Brazilian took the return he blazed a rocket of a shot past Adam Federici. Anderson's celebration featured a kind of strutting tap-dance on the spot.
That was after 13 minutes. Within 90 seconds Wayne Rooney gave the visitors the lead. From the Liverpudlian's corner Evans controlled the ball and, as he brought it down, Tabb decided to barge him over. Rooney beat Federici from the penalty spot.
Now came two Reading goals, each unmarked headers from corners delivered by Nicky Shorey.
This was simple, schoolboy stuff but United could do nothing to repel either. First Shorey's 19th-minute delivery found Adam Le Fondre and as Rio Ferdinand went wandering the No9 finished. Then Sean Morrison produced a carbon copy, rising to meet Shorey's kick to give Reading a hardly credible 3-2 lead.
By the time the clock showed 34 minutes it would be 4-3 to United, and Rafael had first been booked, then hooked by Ferguson (on 28 and 31 minutes, respectively), with the Brazilian apparently ignoring his manager's conciliatory gesture to embark on a sulky pout he still wore on half-time.
Of this reaction, the Scot said: "The boy was disappointed coming off. He has been one of our best players this season. I brought Chris Smalling on, which was an improvement in terms of height."
When the sides walked off for the break, what would prove United's winning advantage had derived from two slick moves. A Patrice Evra ball to Young became a one-two when the winger executed a backheel to his skipper, whose cross allowed an unmarked Rooney to slot a second.
Then Rooney created Robin van Persie's 13th of his debut United season. Carrick's pass was flicked sideways by the forward and the Dutchman, with his right boot, slid the ball beyond Federici.
Rooney, who ended with two goals to stretch his total to five, said of the goal glut: "It was crazy. It was end to end and I think we played some good attacking stuff but defended badly on set-pieces. We showed big character to see the game out. We're not happy about it [falling behind first, again]. If it keeps happening it will cost us. We need to try and get in front early and make it easier for everyone."
Although that was it for the period and match, Van Persie's case for a second appeared copper-bottomed: replays showed his finish was good before Adrian Mariappa cleared.
Rooney was in no doubt: "It certainly was over the line. It is difficult for officials to see because it is so quick. But I'm sure in the future there will be technology."
After Ferguson's pre-match exhortation to Rooney to score more, it had been a surprise to see him on the right of the 4-2-3-1 decided upon by his manager.
Yet, as with Van Persie, he was required to defend as Ferguson's midfield shield of Carrick and Darren Fletcher continued to struggle to slow this open game down.
Ferguson added: "There is a natural determination about the players. I just think we need to get the defending right from set-pieces. If we defend like that against Manchester City, I might need to play myself."
For Brian McDermott, whose side remain second-bottom, this was another case of so near yet so far: "It was a fantastic effort."