If one can't lick 'em, join 'em. Over the years, the phrase seemed to have attained a stature of practical respectability and wisdom and imbued with a semblance of truth the aphorism about "so many ways to skin a cat." The phrase comes to mind upon reading a piece of news about alleged Japanese "manipulation" in the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (Seafdec) reportedly in a bid to maintain a steady and cheap source for (its) rapidly-increasing fish requirements.

Conquest in peace. (1985, November 22). Malaya, p. 1.