Sensei Michael

The Oriental people (by Oriental I refer to the narrower definition – people of Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese ethnicity) tend to be more “title-conscious” than westerners. We live in highly regulated and patriachal societies, and respect is something very important to us. This “respect” also tends to be reflected in the “titles” and positions occupied in society. When my Chinese acquaintances (those I do not know well) speak to me, for example, they always refer to me as 曾老师 (“Chan-Teacher”) or 曾总 ("Chan-General Manager"). It is a mark for respect for me as an educator and someone to learn from, or a senior company staff. Those who know me well calls me…Michael. Only laoda would call me by my Chinese name…and it sounds really weird. Not even my parents use my Chinese name! I was chatting with Dr Pan once (on my favourite topic, of course – aspects of business in Shanghai…we also chatted on the viability of an English-medium boarding school here) when I asked her a...

A teacher has again come under media scrutiny because of her abuse of a child. Police arrest childcare teacher suspected of child abuse The video has gone viral and the public could see how the teacher man-handled the child, eventually causing the child to suffer a fracture. The story from the school to the parents was that the child had suffered a fall. The parents demanded to see the CCTV and were horrified to see the images (the mother was clearly hysterical at the suffering her child went through). I am a teacher and also believe that no child should be subject to what the child was subjected to. It is clearly a breach of the duty of care we have as educators, not to harm our charges. I was a school manager and believe that management should not lie to their parents regarding what had actually happened. It is clearly a breach of the duty of care we have as managers, to assure our customers that their child is safe in our hands. Now that I have put all my beliefs ahead, I wish that ...

This article first appeared in Domain of Experts , a website where selected academic experts write. Introduction One of my students recently asked me if there is a difference between "backward" and "backwards". "Is it another of those American English versus British English thing?" he wondered aloud. I smiled. My students have become very used to my explaining how my American friends use different terms or spell certain words differently, compared to we Singaporeans (who use British English). In fact, it is not just "backward" and "backwards" that many students got in a bind over, but all the various "wards" in English. Forward vs Forwards Forward can be used as an adverb or an adjective, and is used to describe a direction of motion, to the front, or describe a position. Forwards, on the other hand, can only be used as an adverb, and is used interchangeably with "forward" The squad commander took a forward position ...

Another story from the Sheep Pen series. The winter solstice was fast approaching, and it was a traditional time for sheepdog to hibernate together with the sheep. All sheepdogs were looking forward to their final feeding time before the hibernation, but the Sheepdog had heard disturbing news on the grapevine. Apparently, the Owner planned to feed all Sheepdogs after their hibernation, instead of before. Such things were disturbing indeed to the sheepdogs, which needed the warmth of the food before they hibernate. Further news came from the grapevine – the Shepherd had argued for food to be distributed to the sheepdogs, and the Owner had finally agreed. Only to decide that the vitamin tablets be withheld, since hibernating dogs do not need them. The Sheepdog shook its head. Such things were not new – back two years ago, the Owner had wanted to stop feeding the dogs during summer as well, since the sheep had gone for their shearing and slaughter, and the dogs were not needed. The Owner...

Another story from the Shang Wars series. The courier brought another petition to the Emperor, while he was in the middle of watching a performance by his consorts. He shook his head as he realised it was from the Generalissimo again. Why anyone fighting at the border could have the time to send petitions was really beyond him, but he read anyway, before chucking it aside. The Empress, sitting next to his royal throne, picked up the petition. It was a request for more troops, but even more urgently, a few good Generals and gold to build fortifications. “Your Majesty,” the Empress asked, “The Generalissimo fights hard at the border. Shouldn’t we send what he wants?” “My Empress, have you heard of the story of the General Tian Yi, who won the horse races against the princes of Qi?” The Empress nodded. All who were learned in court would have read the works of Sun Bin, even if they were really boring to women like her. “In order for me to win 2 out of 3 races, I would have to sacrifice a...

I am going to tell another story of  the Rabbit family  today. A teary Baby Rabbit hopped onto Mother Rabbit’s burrow one day and complained that Sister Rabbit had bullied him. She had shouted at him in front of the other rabbits and told him a lot of nasty things. Mother Rabbit comforted him, and told him that he was a good rabbit, and need not think too much of what Sister Rabbit had said. She made a mental note to talk to Sister Rabbit later, since she was busy with her spring cleaning. A little while later, Brother Rabbit stormed into her burrow! He was livid, and demanded an answer why Sister Rabbit had bullied Baby Rabbit. He also mentioned that Sister Rabbit had said nasty things about him as well. Now, Baby Rabbit was a favourite brother of Brother Rabbit, and he had taken care of him and loved him from a young age. Mother Rabbit had to calm Brother Rabbit down, and assured him she would be talking to Sister Rabbit about the matter. Brother Rabbit was muttering angrily when he ...

This article was first written when I was working in China. I suspect virtually all foreigners working here in China, if they ever need to purchase anything and claim from the company, would get burnt by the strange financial procedures. I remembered early on in my career in my school, that I needed to buy something for the school. They cost about RMB250 (about USD30 or SGD50) and I asked for a receipt from the stall. They gave me a handwritten receipt with the company stamp – something which would certainly be OK back in Singapore. Not here in China. Finance rejected these receipts, indicating that only proper official receipts with the word 发票 fapiao  on them could be accepted. So there went my RMB250. After a while, I get to understand why the Chinese are so reluctant to buy something on behalf of the company, and to pay first. Recently, something happened again – this time to my own department teacher. My teacher bought something for the school, and got a receipt with the 发票 fapiao...