There has been a wide range of research and development work on machine translation in terms of goals and objectives as well as emphasis. Some are fundamental, some are engineering based and some are product-driven. Different researchers may be motivated by different reasons, some by funding, some by potential commercial returns, some by challenges on the application of various technologies and some by sheer search of knowledge. Trends also tend to emerge in terms of the 'best' approach at a given point in time. This short discussion advocates the possibility of synergising among all types of research while working towards different goals as opposed to looking for the best direction(s) to follow.