Cultural insights yield business edge

 

THERE’S a joke about China you may have heard. A newly appointed governor asked for feedback about the local bureaucracy during an introductory meeting with businessmen. One replied “bu hao shuo” meaning “it’s hard to say”.

 

The governor, brushing aside the politesse, encouraged the businessmen to speak their minds without fear of reprisal. Not persuaded, another businessman responded “shuo bu hao” , which means “there’s no right way to put it”.

 

Still unwilling to take no for an answer, the governor repeated his plea. Finally, a little man at the back of the room spoke. “Bu shuo hao”, he said to all-round chuckles… “it’s better not to say”.

 

Friends in Singapore and China alike are amused by this story. Not only does it capture the frustration they have experienced with China’s bureaucracy, it uses just three simple words in different sequence to express the comedy of it all. That is but one of the many examples of the beauty of the Chinese language.

 

If you don’t know Mandarin at all, I’m afraid the joke will be lost on you. You will miss the many subtle signals or lines in-between that the Chinese are apt to employ to convey their intent.

 

But that does not mean you cannot do business with China. It just makes it harder.

 

This is one reason for Business China’s existence. Launched jointly by Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and China’s Premier Wen Jiabao in November 2007, Business China is a platform integrating language, culture and economy.

 

Complementing the present-day business focus of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Business China aims to nurture a bilingual, bicultural group of Singaporeans in the medium to long term. This will help to sustain our multi-cultural heritage, and develop Singapore as a cultural and economic bridge linking the world and China.

 

Even with the strong emphasis on bilingual education, most young Singaporeans lose touch with the Chinese language once they enter the workforce. They have few reasons to use Mandarin on a daily basis and little motivation to keep up their language skills. Unless they make a conscious effort to pay attention to current developments, many hold outdated views about China.

 

Most realise, however, just how useful it is to know the language once they have to do business with China, an increasingly common occurrence in corporate Singapore. So, perhaps with a degree of pain, they pick up the language again.

 

I recall my own struggle in the first few weeks I landed in Suzhou Industrial Park in 1996. Despite scoring well in my Chinese exams all through the ‘A’ levels, I had become accustomed to speaking and writing almost exclusively in English at the workplace. The Chinese language felt alien.

 

To regain fluency, I forced myself to read Chinese policy guidelines out loud (in private). To gain speed and familiarity, I took on the task of putting everything I’d learnt into a compendium of investment guides for the park investors.

 

It was well worth the effort. But after I returned to Singapore, my Chinese language became rusty again, sustained only by watching the China-produced historical dramas that I had grown to love.

Our language environment does not make it easy for even motivated people to upkeep their bilingual skills, much less their bicultural edge. Business China fills the gap by organising programmes that use Chinese in a relevant way.

 

In designing our programmes, we adopt a differentiated approach for the three main target groups.

 

The Go East Initiative is targeted at pre-workforce Singapore youths, particularly those in institutes of higher learning. It exposes them to the changing face of Chinese society and helps them gain ground experience working and living in China. The core programmes of the Go East initiative include CLing, a portal that provides up-to-date happenings in China that should interest the young.

 

Just last week, we also launched the C-Quotient Campus Series, a programme that brings speakers with interesting China experience to polytechnic and university campuses.

 

One mainstay has been the E3 Workshop, which has prepared 759 China-bound university students before they set off on their attachments to China-based companies.

 

The Apex Initiative is targeted at individual members already bilingual and with good working knowledge about China. They are keen to build in-depth knowledge and gain insights about China and to understand their relevance in a globalised world. The core programmes of the Apex initiative include China Rediscovery – a series of talks and seminars with China-savvy insiders.

 

The FutureChina Initiative is targeted at our corporate members who are leading organisations in Singapore. It supports these members to prepare their staff to be more China-savvy and to stay abreast of developments in China.

 

The core programmes of the FutureChina initiative include the Young Leaders Programme, an immersion training programme in China and the China Insights Series, a programme jointly organised with the Civil Service College.

 

The FutureChina Global Forum is another programme under the FutureChina Initiative that brings together eminent persons to share views on China not just from the economic angle, but also from the cultural, technological and geo-political perspectives.

 

So as not to deter those who are taking baby steps, we offer a natural bilingual environment where people can switch their language use seamlessly. At our events, it is perfectly acceptable to use some English to pose questions or discuss issues, even when most of the programme is in Mandarin.

 

Through these programmes, we hope more business people see the value of investing in language and culture upkeep, as well as a broader understanding of the myriad forces shaping China’s development, whether societal, political or technological.

 

Do all of these things matter when doing business with China?

 

You can ask the bosses of Kang Shifu, the leading brand of instant noodles sold in China. One of them, Wei Ying Chiao, has been invited to speak at the FutureChina Global Forum.

 

Nearly 15 years ago, after huffing and puffing through the steep ascents of Huashan in Shaanxi province, I was surprised to find near the top of the mountain an old man hawking food and drinks. The climb had made me hungry so I asked him what was on offer, and he said simply: “Kang Shifu – that’s the best thing you can ask for up here.”

 

Everywhere in China, you will find Kang Shifu synonymous with instant noodles. So I asked a friend working for a rival MNC brand with worldwide sales why Kang Shifu was so successful. “The answer is simple,” he said. “There are 3 types of condiments in each packet of Kang Shifu compared with just one or two in ours. We discovered a little too late that for many Chinese, it meets their idea of value.”

Business is done with people and people are products of their culture and society. With that first mover advantage in cultural understanding, Kang Shifu has maintained market leadership for years. Maybe the same could happen for you.

 

The writer is chief executive officer of Business China.

 

 

Courtesy of The Business Times, 12 July 2010.