Lesson Time

I wrote this to my team the other day. I have pasted this here so that you all can learn as well:

“Hi team

Given that we work for an American company located in China, I would like to share with you some pointers on how best to communicate in English so that we all improve together. At the same time, I hope that you can give me some pointers in how to communicate in Chinese as well so that I can learn together with you.

1.    When updating Salesforce, don’t say “our legal”. I know in Chinese it’s “我们的法务部”. In English, it’s different. It’s enough to just say “Awaiting Legal’s comments”.

2.    Capital letters should only be used in names or defined words （定义词）in contracts. For example, “Fudan University is a good university” or “The Chengdu Second Ring Road is a major ring road that connects Chengdu to Chongqing”. Note how the same words in the same sentence may sometimes have capital letters, sometimes not. Think it through. Ask yourself “Is this word a name of something?”

3.    There is no “s” in the word “feedback”. “Feedbacks” is a wrong word.

4.    Fonts – When emailing, please make sure that if you copy and paste something from somewhere, the entire text in the email is in the same font size and color. It’s unprofessional to have many fonts and different colors in one email. It’s ok sometimes to have one or two colors but please 适可而止.

I will continue to add to this list as and when I think of more.”

Weathered Down

Some of you have been asking me about the weather. I hope this isnt cos I have been talking so much about it.

It has been quite cooling the past week.

34-36 degrees in the day time.

The Singaporeans all cheered. It's kinda odd really because 34-36 in Singapore is very hot.

I guess it's all relative.

You know... when...

You know you have arrived when you have one of these...

A handsfree mic that is attached to your phone. 

 

Unless, of course, you are a telephone operator. Then you’d have gotten this on the first day you arrive .. at work.

Top 10 Nasty Bosses

1. The Ego-Tripper - a boss that is arrogant, shows off at any opportunity and is in constant need of boosting his or her ego
2. The Coward - a boss that takes on no accountability and often hides behind others
3. The Micromanager - a boss that believes he knows how others should do their job, who can't trust people to just get on with their job and instead and micro-manages everything they do
4. The Incapable - a boss that has been promoted beyond his or her capabilities, has no clue how to do the job and has lost all respect of subordinates and co-workers
5. The Over-friendly Mate - a boss that inappropriately wants to be your best mate or nearest friend
6. The Bad Communicator - a boss that is unable to communicate anything effectively, be it the corporate strategy or individual performance feedback
7. The Plagiarizer - a boss that takes credit for other people's work or ideas and passes it off as his own (especially to his or her boss)
8. The Negative - a boss that just can't say anything positive and instead turns everything into doom-and-gloom
9. The Ego-Centric - a boss that doesn't care about the people who work for him and is not interested in helping, coaching and developing anyone else but himself
10. The Criticizer- a boss that is quick to criticize mistakes others make and is unable to provide constructive feedback

Showered

Sometimes, in fact most times, I think I'm a rather observant person.

Sometimes, Im proven wrong. This is a picture of our shower in our apartment.

There is a rain shower head at the top and there is a movable hose head in the middle portion.

For some reason, after I started using the movable hose to shower cos it has a higher pressure, I have never used the shower head, up to a point where I didnt even know the rainshower head existed! I know I didnt know it existed because Someone asked me about it and i said we didnt have a rainshower head!!

Gosh, sometimes, once we block something out, conscious or unconsciously, it can be so blocked out!

That's so weird!

Now, there's a post it on the shower door that says "SHOWER HEAD! SHOWER HEAD! SHOWER HEAD!" to remind me it's there.

Down and Back!

Sorry I have been away.

I reformatted my Mac over the last few days cos it was getting sluggish.

I hope you have been able to find other alternatives to my blog during this downtime.

Weather Woes II

Im a little embarrassed to keep talking about the weather but there's just so many associated happenings due to the weather.

Someone has been here in Shanghai for one month now. This coincided with the heat wave, so when Someone's home, the air con is switched on in the living room.

This has resulted in last month's electricity bill to shoot up more about 2.5 times than the preceding months to S$140. Siong man. Hope this doesnt keep up for long.

Word Up!

I rarely come across a word that I don’t know the meaning of these days, especially now that I’m in China.

Just saw this word the other day.

Conviviality

It looks kinda simple but Im not even sure how to pronounce it.

Kwa Kwa

With the hot weather outside and the cold temperatures in the office, my team has been falling sick here and there.

Usually I don’t care and I never really did think that health would affect productivity that greatly until now.

So the other day, I asked my assistant to order some red ginseng tea for my team and for each, a tube of the fizzy vitamin thing you can put in plain water.

I told her to just distribute to them directly if and when the stuff arrive.

I got a note on a box this morning at work.

I then realised that Someone also ordered something else and sent it to my office.

The something else was this:

I had posted this before. It was something women can put in their nether regions to pee standing up.

And Someone ordered SEVEN!!

I bet my assistant must have been shocked to see that it wasnt the red ginseng tea she was expecting. Kwa kwa.

Satisfied!

I wanted to go for steak for my birthday as I had steak and scallops craving after watching Hell's Kitchen.

Chose a new hotel's steakhouse as per a friend's recommendation.

Odd to serve the lobster bisque in a Chinese teapot.

Scallop! But unfortunately, not as big as Hell's Kitchen.

I like it that you can choose the knives.

Here's what i ordered. 500g of rib eye on the bone. A little bit too much really.

Weather Woes I

10 months in Shanghai and I’m still trying to get a grip of the weather.

It typically shows 40 degrees and never higher. It sometimes feels actually higher than that. I once in Dubai once and it was 45 degrees but Shanghai’s “40” felt hotter.

I later found out why. If the stated temperature goes above 40 degrees, the government is obligated to pay rebates to the factories and junior workers. That’s why the official temperature is never higher than 40 degrees. That’s some scary shit.

Along with summer comes a more wet climate. That’s why there is more mould recently. We try to counter this with more of the Hungry Hippo dehumidifiers in cupboards and all. But yet at the same time, people, including myself in the office and in the bedroom, are still switching on our humidifiers to moisten the air. It’s all very confusing to me really.

MOUs!

It was a good week last week.

We signed 4 MOUs last week. Just nice the President was here.

That brought our YTD total to eight.

Last year, the company only signed two.

Mathematically, that means a 300% increase.

I think I’d prefer to say this represents an achievement of 400% over last year’s performance.

That’s how statisticians play with our minds anyway.

Translation Woes

Three cup pork becomes mushrooms.

Probably the first time Im a victim of poor translation.

If you read it fast enough, 鲍菇 does sound like pork.

Five Steps to Get Your CEO to Notice You

Here’s the continuing series of how to advance in your career which I read from Linkedin.

Five Steps to Get Your CEO to Notice You

Show commitment
One of the key qualities employers always look for in their staff is commitment and drive. Every boss wants people who are willing to put in the extra effort rather than deal with individuals who are looking to do the minimum needed to get by. That does not necessarily mean working the longest hours in the office but what it does mean is the ability to go that extra mile when necessary. Make sure that every task given to you is done on time and to the standards expected and wherever possible beyond.

Be enthusiastic
Having the right attitude towards work can go a long way towards getting yourself noticed. As a manager it can be frustrating and draining to have to constantly remind people about outstanding work and missed deadlines. Having the right attitude and a genuine enthusiasm for your work is not only good on an individual basis - it can also create a positive atmosphere in the office.

Show initiative
It can make all the difference to a manager or company owner when they have a member of staff who does not have to be told every step of the way what work needs to be done. One great way to stand out in the workplace is to show a little initiative and put yourself forward for tasks or important jobs before they are allocated. Don’t be afraid to speak out if you have a good idea. The idea might not be acted on but it still demonstrates that you are creative in your thinking.

Speak up
It is no good being ambitious if you don’t tell anyone about your ambitions. If you are good at your job bosses might assume that you are happy in your current role and not looking for a promotion or a change. When the time is right, ask for a private chat with your manager and tell him or her exactly how you feel. Bosses are not mind-readers and there is nothing wrong with letting them know about your hopes and plans for your future career.

Be adaptable
Be prepared to be adaptable, a position may become available that you had not considered before but may be a route towards promotion or advancement. Alternatively it is possible you have progressed as far as you are going to go in your current job or your manager may not consider you a suitable candidate for promotion. If this is the case the time might have come to look for a new job with another employer. There is no point in staying put if you are not going anywhere. A career should always be moving forward and you should be looking for a promotion every 18 months to two years.

WHAT?!?

When you work overseas, you inevitably get asked when you will go back to your home country.

Usually, no one can give an accurate answer because no one knows when they’ve had enough, when they’ve earned enough, when they get sacked, or when they find a better job.

I met a Singaporean at a party the other day. He had left Shanghai some time back after his contract expired and after staying in Singapore for a week, he returned to Shanghai with another company.

I asked him what the appeal of Shanghai was to him.

He said “Taobao”

??!?

When he saw that I looked flabbergasted, he hastened to add “And 快递too!”

I’m like.. what???!? You left your family and friends in Singapore so that you can buy Taobao and use their courier services?!?

Then another Singaporean chipped in to agree and said that there was no concept of post offices here and everything is via courier. No shit, I know that. But surely, if.. I don’t know. I was too weirded out to ask anymore and then I changed topics.

Technology II

There’s an new app here that has been getting a lot of downloads.

Because the cab situation here is so acute especially in the winter and more recently, the sweltering 40 degree summer, 滴滴打车has been very popular.

I was quite skeptical at first but when I was stuck once in a downpour, I used it.

The app allows you to voice record your location and your destination and it will be broadcast to taxi drivers who also have the app. The app also allows you to add a tip on top of the fare to entice the driver to come get you.

It doesn’t sound very sophisticated but it’s a lifesaver in a place that is impossible to call and pre-book a cab.

I’ll have to keep using this until I decide to take the plunge and get a car and driver.

Black Hawk Down

I was in Beijing this week to attend just one meeting with my President who was visiting.

He was sounding all throaty the night before at dinner and by the next morning, he was all bed ridden.

Had to cancel the meeting and reshuffle the meetings in Shanghai.

Kwa kwa.

Because of this change, there was a mad scramble to change our flight back to Shanghai. The hotel was kind enough to pack some lunch for us before the 12pm flight.

Fair Warning

I was in Beijing yesterday when I noticed this on the TV.

I never noticed such warnings before. Odd.

Credited

I mentioned some time back that I managed to wrangle some credit cards due to some connections.

They finally arrived.

My debit card is now the premier edition one and I have the platinum VISA credit card and platinum Union Pay credit card.

The problem now is, they all look very similar in my wallet. Kwa kwa.

Just Another Day

This year's birthday was particularly nondescript. Not many whatsapp greetings and not many FB greetings.

Perhaps it's true. Out of sight, out of mind.

Perhaps the highlight was that we had a three-hour badminton game. And it was great to have Someone around.

HOT!

It was so hot over the weekend that I got a sun burn after working around outdoors for a while. And it wasn’t even a long while!

My secretary 中暑the other day on her way to work. Crazy!