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Strategies & Market Trends : China Warehouse- More Than Crockery -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (1982)	12/14/2003 12:02:18 PM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6370

Arrogant Singaporeans finish last in China More humility, less calculation, will smooth the way for business By LOH HUI YIN THERE was general laughter and - significantly - nods of agreement when a former Chinese diplomat told Singaporeans to discard their arrogance or ao qi. Chen Baoliu, who served as China's ambassador to Singapore from 1997 to 2000, set aside diplomatic niceties when she addressed a business forum comprising Chinese and Singapore businessmen in Beijing last month. Her message? That her compatriots are catching up on their command of English and also becoming savvy in their interaction with the West - attributes that Singaporeans used to think are their preserve, which then make them feel one up on the Chinese. Madam Chen's bluntness, though unpalatable to some Singaporeans, certainly hit the nail on the head. Such a superior attitude, she said, could hinder the improvement of ties between China and Singapore. She might well have added that Singaporeans' ao qi is not confined to just China but is fairly common in our relations with some of our immediate neighbours. And that it could also affect our ties with Asean neighbours. Anecdotes abound on how some of our young, well-intentioned bureaucrats imposed their views on their older Chinese colleagues when getting the Suzhou Industrial Park off the ground, or often suggested with hardly suppressed hubris: 'This is how it is done in Singapore and you should follow it.' My Thai friends talk of how Singaporeans berate local Thai staff publicly without any regard to 'face' or feelings. Just as you Singaporeans want 'face', so do we, they would point out. What irks some of them is the fact that as fellow Asians, we should be more acutely sensitive to such cultural considerations. Madam Chen made a salient point when she noted that Singaporeans' 'capital' of English language skills, familiarity with foreign cultures and higher standards of living will be devalued in time when others, such as her countrymen, catch up - as indeed they are doing. China sends thousands of students overseas each year for post-graduate studies, mostly to the United States and United Kingdom. Some will remain overseas but more and more of them, after a few years of work experience with top financial and legal firms on Wall Street and in the City, are returning home to leverage on their foreign experience and Chinese background - at a time when the Chinese economy is booming. These are smart, articulate professionals who are also savvy in the ways of the West, not the proverbial country bumpkins of two decades ago when China was embarking on its market reforms. And they are ambitious and hungry for knowledge and success. One story making the rounds goes like this: A Chinese who works on the forex trading desk of a Wall Street firm and is based in Hong Kong orders the same dish every day from a fast-food outlet. Why? Because he can save time dithering about what to eat every day. That's how focused he is. CCTV, the country's national television station, is currently hosting a Speak English competition for college students, some of whose skills would put native speakers to shame. Many of the students are also poised and eloquent in their delivery. Of course, some of Singaporeans' arrogance could be put down to mere shyness. For instance, a mainland Chinese would stand up, turn around and wave to the general audience when his boss calls out his name at a function. But the typical Singaporean would just continue sitting glued to his chair, a passive gesture which could be misconstrued as arrogance. But such cases are just manifestations of social awkwardness which we need to work on. Arrogance aside, we Singaporeans could try to downplay our quid pro quo attitude when interacting with our neighbours. Sure, it's normal to ask 'what's in it for me' in any transaction. But does it need to be that way every time? Sometimes, the payback can come later, and not necessarily in the form of financial dividends by which we so often tend to measure such things. Goodwill can go a long way in fostering better relations between both governments and peoples. As the most developed Asean member trying to build a gracious society, Singapore and its people can afford to be a bit more generous with their goodwill. So let's try to discard our ao qi, and the way we seemingly calibrate, in dollars and cents, our relationship with our friends and neighbours. Give feedback on this article business-times.asia1.com.sg