Sensei Michael

I love military history and has studied them since my youth. One important military treatise that I’ve studied as a young lad was  The Art of War  by  Sun Tzu  (孙子兵法). I’ve applied many lessons there in my life and dealings with others, but there were also many that I really have a great deal of problems putting into practice in my life. I have been reflecting a lot recently on how a business owner should handle his top management. Or even how a CEO (who is normally the majority shareholder as well) should handle his various VPs. I quote Chapter 2 of the book. 12. There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army:– 13. (1) By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey. This is called hobbling the army. 14. (2) By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldier’s minds. 15. (...

I am a proud member of the Chinese diapora, born and bred in Singapore. My upbringing means I’ve lost quite a lot of my Chinese roots (since English is more native to me than Chinese), but have kept enough alive so that I can still identify myself as one (I must thank my father for that – he was very insistent on this part of my identify in my youth). One of my great interests is Linguistics, and Chinese characters is one part of this area that I like to investigate. In Chinese, a worm is represented by this character (Chinese characters are all either pictographs or ideographs) 虫. The ancient original pictograph looked like a snake, and was actually used to refer to a snake, rather than a worm. Today, the Chinese for snake is 蛇. You should be able to see the worm pictograph within the character for snake (it’s at the left). Chinese characters are basically ideographs, and contain the ideas within the character. This worm pictograph is not only found in snakes. Frogs 青蛙, mosquitoes...

China is the land of the Chinese Opera. A lot is hidden behind the elaborate masks, turns, flips and sabre rattlings. The TV serial Liangjian 亮剑 (literally “to show the sword”) is cast against the background of the second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), when the Kuomintang 国民党 and the Communist Party 共产党 had an uneasy alliance to fight the Japanese together. This particular episode I watched has all the makings of the opera that goes on all the time in companies here in China. The Kuomintang has occupied a strategic town that would enable them to immediately wipe out an entire regiment of the Communist Party’s army, headed by this astute commander Li. A direct attack is out of the question, since both the Communist Party and the Kuomintang are supposed to be fighting a common enemy. He cut off communications lines to the town, and conducted exercises around it. All food supplies were intercepted, as well as despatches in and out of the town. When the commander of the trapped compa...

I came across an interesting article by Sox on  Mao and Chinese CEOs . The researcher and the writer of the post makes connections between the way companies are run in China and the way Mao ran China. The researcher noticed “the manner in which Mao wielded power: by keeping the country in a state of chaotic flux, often playing one group against another”. It was almost like a lightbulb lit within me as I tried to understand how Chinese companies here function. Now I understand why some board meetings are like seeing the Romance of the Three Kingdoms in action. When everybody else is unstable, you can hold on more easily to your power base. Other tactics used by company CEOs: “They cement their authority by keeping even senior managers in a constant state of uncertainty, sometimes mobilizing lower-level employees to criticize and pressure mid- and upper-level executives”. Again, another light-bulb within me lighted (this one is energy saving). Obviously, not all companies work ...

I received news yesterday that Brother Jiang’s (he wanted me to call him that) mother-in-law has passed away, at the age of 90. To the Chinese, the funeral of anyone who passes away at the age of 80 or older is meant to be a “celebration” rather than a mourning, a celebration of joy that someone has lived to a ripe old age. Sir, JL and I represented the school management to attend the funeral, held at a parlour near the school. The place was very well-planned – florists and restaurants were available in quantity, and smartly-attired staff attended to the various mourners present. We were early – the bad traffic meant that the mourners (who have to come from their homes, where the wake was observed) were late. Brother Jiang was very happy to see us. Lots of important people were present – the 村长 Chiefs (present and former) of the village, the 消防局长 Chief of the Fire Department and a whole bunch of business and government officials (I heard that even the Mayor or Vice-Mayor of Shangha...

I went to a business networking meeting yesterday. We were expecting investors there, but the two that came were interested in start-ups that handle green technology, and while I am interested, I have neither the passion nor the expertise to handle that. I got to know also an official from 江苏吴江 Jiangsu Wujiang city and CC the Taiwanese marketing director of Kai-En. The latter spoke perfect English (having lived overseas as a boy), and guessed straight away that I am Singaporean. A banker GW who was chatting with us did not believe him – he had lived in Singapore for many years, and he claimed that my accent is not a Singaporean accent. CC’s experience with Singaporeans was in the UK, so it may have coloured his perception of Singaporeans, I guess. As the evening moved on, however, the guys moved away, and I ended up with three Chinese girls chatting with me in good English, two university students (one of them very cute!) and one sales lady. Yes, we could communicate, which to me i...

One thing I really like about living in China was how much connected I have become to my Chinese roots. I am proud of being ethnic Chinese, which is why I get very unhappy and frustrated when I see some of the “weird” things happening in mainland China. It seems like the Cultural Revolution has wiped out so much of Chinese values, that it appears only the overseas Chinese still kept on to these same values we hold dear. I found out, while living here, that many of the Chinese my age and younger have no idea of the relationship terms for Chinese relationships. To them, every aunt is a 阿姨, every uncle is a 叔叔 and every cousin is a 哥哥 or some other terms used only for the immediate family. I found out recently that the relationship terms came about only during the Spring and Autumn period of China’s history. In other words, the present generation has gone back on 3000 years of history. I was little better, actually – I only figured out how everything works when I was in high school, b...

I nearly died when I saw the (partial) list of  proposed changes to simplify Chinese characters even more. Some of the proposed changes in the characters. There were disagreements between GB and I (as usual) about whether the changes are good for the growth of the language. I do agree that, eventually, man will adapt and the new thing will come out well, but I do not agree that this is good for the growth of the language. Let us take as an example the language I am most intimate with – English. The language has evolved over a period of time due to certain reasons, all of which are due to normal human interactions. Words gaining new meanings over time.  Meat  referred to all food in the days of Shakespeare, but refers only to the body parts of animals today.  Gay  was a whole lot more innocent in the 18th Century, but has a very different meaning today. New words are coined or borrowed.  Ketchup  and  tea  were borrowed from Chin...

As a naive Singaporean (okay, okay, not so naive) stepping into China back in February of 2004, culture shock hit me rapidly. I had thought that, as an ethnic Chinese myself, fitting into Chinese society would be easy. It was not to be so – every day for me was an exciting learning journey, understanding the culture and the ways of China, the land of my ancestry. One of the thriving businesses in China is that of 烟酒回收 cigarettes and liquor “recycling”. One can see many signs like this all over the city. Besides cigarettes and liquor, other items that can be “recycled” include some valuable herbs (cordyceps) or transport/supermarket cashcards. What the vendor does is to buy in these items at way lower than their normal cash value, and sell them to interested parties for a premium (but still lower than normal cash value). What makes this a thriving business here? China  is a nation with a strong gift-giving culture. To avoid the appearance of bribery, nobody gives cash here (...

Court cases in China are very interesting affairs. I was summoned today to appear in court to 开庭. The closest equivalent to that phrase would be “begin court proceedings”. And in case my readers think it is something glamorous, my role there is little more than the equivalent of a member of the public in courts in the West and in Singapore. Yet I had to be summoned. Wow. The 上海市徐汇区人民法院 Shanghai Xuhui District People’s Court is located at 188 宜山路 Yishan Road. I was there early, and was allowed into the building with only a metal detection check and an X-Ray of my bag performed by 2 unarmed security officers. I was not asked for my identification, thankfully, for I had forgotten to take my passport with me. In Singapore, I would need my identity card, and I would need to register myself in the presence of armed policemen (auxiliary police, but nevertheless with guns, batons and handcuffs). A billboard scrolled the various cases to be heard that day. The vast majority of them are 合同纠纷...

I grew up in Singapore, where the concept of social security is strongly tied to the Central Provident Fund. This is money set aside, about 20% from our salary, and 20% from the company, for us to draw out once we hit 55 years old, as our retirement fund. Yes, it does mean that a retiree can outlast his retirement funds. Along the way though, the retirement age gets raised to 60. Then 62. I suspect by the time I get to draw from the fund, the retirement age would have already been 75. Chinese social security consists of a basic set of social security system, with some provinces and municipalities having additional provisions. All Shanghainese workers, by law, has to be provided with 4 types of social security, termed the  四金  (Four Gold). 养老金 Retirement Fund – 6% funded by the worker, and 25.5% funded by the company, this works similar to a social security tax, where the fund gives a stipend once the worker retires. 失业保险金 Job Security Insurance – 1% funded by the worke...

Unlike many (but not all, fortunately) English proverbs and idioms, whose origins and stories have been lost in time, nearly all Chinese proverbs and idioms retain their flavour and historical origins. 鸿门宴 The feast at the Hong Gate, describes a situation where one is invited to something good (a meeting, a banquet or a party) but the intention behind the invitation is to do the person in. It all started when 刘邦 Liu Bang, allied with 项羽 Xiang Yu, both attacked Qin in its final hours. Xiang Yu has the bigger army (a figure of 300,000 to 400,000 were quoted – Liu Bang has about 100,000) but engaged the stronger Qin troops. Liu Bang, on the other hand, arrived at 襄阳 Xiangyang the capital of Qin first, and persuaded the young emperor to surrender and abdicate. Xiang Yu was so angry that he wanted to kill Liu Bang and hence invited him to a feast at the Hong Gate. Liu Bang had no choice – if he failed to turn up, Xiang Yu will attack. A sword dance was displayed during the banquet, the ...

This post comes from a discussion I had with my MBA Professor and classmates over knowledge management. For my current assignment, I have chosen to write on knowledge management in Chinese society. I am an overseas Chinese, and as a young boy learning Chinese, I remembered an interesting point my Chinese teacher (bless this gentleman) brought across. He noted that we Chinese tend to look only to our own interests. Idioms like 自扫门前雪 (to clear the snow only off our own doorsteps) and 肥水不流外人田 (the fertile waters should not be allowed to flow into an outsider’s field) abound. He raised the issue of why the Japanese could be stronger than the Chinese, taking only a war to unite them. I still remember what he mentioned – a Chinese is a dragon, a Japanese is a pig. Three Chinese are three pigs, while three Japanese is a dragon. His final story sets the stage for my topic in this DB. He noted how a master would teach his disciple 9 out of 10 strokes, in order to keep 1 for himself, ...

I am a member of the Chinese diaspora, and proud of my heritage. The fact that I grew up overseas, in a different culture from the mainland Chinese, means I am effectively bicultural and bilingual as well. The extent of our spread can be seen in the article  Strangers at Home , and it took my breath away. Taking majority-Chinese Singapore (2,684,900)as the benchmark, we have the following countries with significant numbers of overseas Chinese. Taiwan (China considers it part of itself) 22,563,477 Indonesia 7,566,200 Thailand 7,053,240 Malaysia 6,187,400 USA 3,376,031 I will have to mention Peru, with a surprising 1,300,000 overseas Chinese. It is the outstanding blob in the graphic that tends to cluster around South-east Asia.

I read recently a most ridiculous piece of news 《 南京上百家庭为拆迁费排队离婚 》(translation: Hundreds of Families Queue in Nanjing to Get a Divorce For Displacement Compensation). In early September, within two weeks, the Nanjing Civil Affairs Bureau (which handles marriages and divorces) had handled more divorce cases than an entire year’s worth the previous year. Reporters who investigated discovered that these couples (some of them in their eighties!) were affected by an en-bloc redevelopment of their district. Their displacement compensation 拆迁费 is based on the number of registered families in their soon-to-be-demolished houses, and a divorce creates  two  families instead of one, effectively doubling the compensation they get. Some wise guy must have thought of this idea to make a quick buck out of the government, and the news soon spread. China is a land where marriage is not considered something sacred. I do not blame them. When atheism rules, nothing is sacred. And so women lea...

Chinese is in itself a very interesting language, and the characters that make up this language gives a lot of indication of what is important to the people whose diaspora I belong to. The Chinese for home is 家, composed of a rooftop 宀 and an animal 豕 underneath it. To the Chinese, as long as one has property (the animal) under a roof, one has a home. But, as any man married for long knows, it is not enough just to have a home. One must have peace in the home too. Hence the Chinese for peace is 安, comprising a rooftop 宀 and a woman 女 underneath it. To the Chinese, a woman under a roof gives peace. And of course, one must not forget that a disaster 灾 is a fire 火 underneath a rooftop 宀! Chinese is cool!

In Chinese, we use 兄  xiong  or 哥  ge  to refer to an elder brother. As a young kid growing up in relatively westernised Singapore, in a family of only boys, I accepted at face value the use of these terms to refer to an elder brother – my two younger siblings use the Min’nan pronunciation of 兄  hia  to refer to me, and my mother has always been very proud that they did not use the “less respectful” 哥  gor . Interestingly, even though we speak mostly in English, my brothers will still use the Chinese honorific when they address me. Then as I grew older, and got into the adult world (and especially after arriving here in China), I began to understand that 哥 can also be used as a term of endearment by a woman to refer to a man she likes or respects (sometimes “like” and “respect” are interchangeable, in Asian cultures). From my Korean students, I see that in action, and it was confirmed by the Korean dramas that I watched – Korean women will use the te...