Celebrate cultural differences!

Whether you believe in the existence of heaven and hell or not, everyone around the world will generally agree that heaven is the ideal and hell is, well ... the opposite. This poster says a lot about our cultural characteristics.

British are known for being orderly and very good at maintaining law and order.
Italians cook the most delicious food.
Germans can make and fix things with superb precision.
French are the world's romantics.
Swiss keep things running like clockwork (yes, pun fully intended).

When each of these nationalities is in his element, everyone is happy and things run smoothly. Exactly the way heaven should be, or at least we think heaven is like that.

However, when the different nationalities try to do something they are not good at, oh my! All hell breaks loose! Chaos!

The best advice I have heard is to find what you are good at and do it well! Everyone will be happy! We will be in seventh heaven!

So what is your country known for? Make that your passion and bring heaven to earth!

Vive la cultural differences!

You like watery eggs?

Toast, eggs and coffee or tea is quite standard breakfast food pretty much anywhere in the world. In Western countries, you may even choose how you would like your eggs cooked: sunny side up ("fried" in some places), scrambled ("crumbled" at a restaurant in Cambodia), omelette, poached. I have not heard of anyone eating hard boiled eggs for breakfast - yet!

In Singapore and Malaysia, two soft-boiled eggs for breakfast is traditional. For a while, there was a health trend going round in America, saying that soft-boiled eggs were the healthiest thing to eat for breakfast. I thought that most unusual because I have never heard of anyone eating soft-boiled eggs in the west. I am quite sure that trend has passed, as do all trends for that matter.

When I saw this sign (picture above) advertising a breakfast set of "two watery eggs", toast and coffee or tea, I had to laugh. If I did not know what soft-boiled eggs looked like, I would not be inclined to try eating "watery eggs". Just the phrase makes me think of uncooked eggs, which are watery. For that matter, it takes skill to make good soft-boiled eggs.* Not cooked long enough, the eggs are very watery and not fit for consumption.

The picture of the breakfast set shows a plate of yellow liquid with some black streaks in it. To the uninformed, that is how you eat soft-boiled eggs the Singaporean and Malaysian way. First, you knock open the eggs onto a saucer. Add some white pepper and soya sauce (the black streaks). Use a teaspoon to break open the yolks and stir the mixture around. Drink up the liquid straight from the saucer (direct to your mouth) or use the toast to mop up the egg and eat.

I was pleasantly surprised to know that my Latin American friend eats her sunny side up eggs with toast! I have had breakfast with her several times when she would use the fork to break open the yolk carefully, then dip the toast into the runny yolk to eat. Before eating, she would always apologise to the others at the table, saying that she was taught to eat that way from young. (I suppose some cultures may be offended by this.) I never thought that a culture so different from mine would share such a similarity!

Regardless of how you like your eggs, my point is that the description of the breakfast set does not make me go, "Yum! I want that for breakfast!" The stall holder should have checked with English-speaking people before putting up the sign for "watery eggs". Good copywriting does make a difference in sales.

Have fun learning English and how to eat eggs!

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*Recipe for soft-boiled eggs:
Place two uncooked eggs in a large mug.
Pour in enough boiling water to cover the eggs nicely.
Wait exactly 13 minutes.
Remove eggs from the mug, break them into a saucer, add some pepper and soya sauce, and enjoy!

Please say "thank you"

'Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom'- Marcel Proust

Is it so hard to say "thank you"?

I used to teach youth aged 16-25 years in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, how to work in an office. One of the lessons is being thankful. When someone does something for you, no matter how small, we should always say "thank you". Small gestures of appreciation create a positive work environment in which to work.

In the Cambodian culture, people are generally too shy to say "thank you" to those closest to them e.g. immediate family members. Since my students had yet to enter the workforce, my examples drew mainly from their home environment, so they could understand what was being taught. I raised this example frequently:

Me: If your mother gave you 100 riel (smallest denomination of currency), would you say "thank you"?
Students: No, of course not!
Me: If your mother gave you USD100, would you say "thank you"?
Students: (Laughter) But, we never say "thank you" to those who are close to us. The relationship is too close.
I will never understand their thinking.

"Thank you" is about as universal as the word "Coke". Everybody understands "thank you" in English regardless of whether you understand English or not. When said with a smile, these two small words warm the heart and send messages of love across cultural barriers.

As American Thanksgiving approaches, let's all build a culture of thankfulness. Two small words "thank you" mean so much.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers! To the rest of the world, let's be thankful too!

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Don't butcher the English language!

It seems that English proficiency in Malaysia is not up to standard. A long time ago, the standard of education in Singapore and Malaysia were on par with each other, and with the rest of the world. English proficiency was high and a given, if you went to school in either of these countries.

Then, the Malaysian government decided to change the medium of instruction in schools to Malay, the national language, instead of English. Malay proficiency soared. Malaysians of every race spoke Malay fluently, but at the expense of English. Somewhere along the line, policy change made teaching of Science and Mathematics go back to English. Now, the goal is to get all Malaysian students proficient in English by 2016. Ambitious. I salute them.

I am not here to comment on a nation's education policies. All I want to say is that English is a universal language that is necessary for survival. My South African friend always said this:

We all speak one language around the world: bad English.

Funny? Maybe. True? Yes, indeed!

Regardless of what language you are learning, I suggest that you try your best to learn it as well as you can. Let's not insult any language by butchering it to unrecognisable bits in the name of "I can communicate; isn't that enough?" I respect every culture, even though I may not like every part of their culture. Language is an integral part of a culture. Let's be respectful and learn it well. The same goes with English.

Have fun learning a language! Find a package to suit you here!

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Finish your food!

"Make sure you finish what is on your plate!" Every child around the world has heard this too many times from his mother. Apparently, we do not always listen.

Singapore schools have just started a campaign to ensure that school children do not waste food. They have to eat everything on their plate, which more or less forces children to take only what they can eat. More importantly, it teaches children not to waste food. Children are learning. They realise that not all children have enough to eat, so don't waste anything.

My mother always told me to eat up every grain of rice on my plate because each grain represents the sweat of a farmer somewhere. A book on life in China in the 1940s talks about a lady who eats up every grain of food on her plate because she experienced the hardship of farming in her younger days. She cannot bear to see anything being thrown away.

Food wastage in China is very real. "Operation Empty Plate" started to try to curb this bad habit. Is it working? I do not know. Only time will tell if cultural traits can be changed over a generation.

I have heard this statement many times:

There is enough food to feed everyone around the world, but why are some places having so much while others are starving?

Regardless of whether you are starving or in abundance, the point remains the same: do not waste food. My late grandmother used to say that wasting food is a sin. I don't know about that, but I agree that food should not be wasted. Eat what I can. Eat enough. Do not overeat. Everything in moderation. That's my philosophy in eating.

Culture takes generations to build. Culture will take generations to change. It begins with me.

Have fun learning a new culture!

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Don't insult my family name!

Janice Worth was a New Yorker, used to White American culture until she married a Hawaiian. She moved to Hawaii and embraced a new culture such that is has become her own. She may not be Hawaiian, but she has adopted Hawaiian culture and all that it represents, including her husband's family name, Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele (35 characters, in case you are wondering).

Janice may now be a widow, but she stubbornly refuses to give up her Hawaiian family name. She said, "Over the last 22 years I have seen Hawaii being bulldozed and the culture of Hawaii being trampled upon and this policeman treated my name as if it is some mumbo jumbo." I don't blame her one bit for being so upset. Names represent individuals, families and a whole culture. You can't make fun of someone's name and expect to get away with it. Someone, somewhere is going to get insulted.

What is the problem? Her family name is too long to fit into her driver's license! Either a few letters at the end get left out, or as the policeman (mentioned above) suggested, revert to her maiden name. She was hurt, hurt enough to take her case to the local television station. That put pressure on the Hawaii Department of Transportation, who is now working hard to rectify the problem. How many other Hawaiians and Polynesians are similarly affected but have not spoken up?

I fully sympathise with Janice. A few years ago I was on a conference call with colleagues of different nationalities in different parts of the world, none of them Asian. They were talking about a mutual friend who had registered for a conference under her maiden name, which no one knew because she always used her married name. Since her full maiden name sounded more like an alliteration, everyone thought it was a big joke and carried on for several minutes laughing at her name. I tried very hard to get a word in to explain, but no one was listening. I was upset. It was not my name, but she was my fellow countryman. I felt trampled upon by all these non-Asians. They were making fun of Chinese culture! Of course I was adamant!

How protective are you of your culture and heritage? I can't say that I am, unless ... until you start trampling on it. I meet many people of different nationalities in my course of work. I do my best to ask questions and try to learn about their culture and language. I am very particular that the pronunciation must be correct, not skewed to my accent. I respect their culture and language. My new friend will appreciate that. I'm here to make friends for the long haul, not trample on them at the first meeting.

Whichever culture you come from, whatever language you speak, let's endeavour to cross our cultural barrier. Make new friends. Fill this world with love for one another!

Have fun learning another language and culture!

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Revive ancient art and craft skills, celebrate culture

Art and craft are an integral part of a culture. Even poor mountainous tribes have beautiful clothes, jewelry and musical instruments. Here's an ancient Chinese craft that is little known and is now being slowly revived.

The craftsman embeds a kingfisher's feather into a setting of gold. I've never seen a picture like that, but I am sure it is stunning.

What craft in your culture do you celebrate? Share it with us!

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Typo errors and poor building maintenance = poor image

I wrote about poor customer service some time ago. This photo is from the slimming centre I visited. While waiting for the Consultant, I spotted this unprofessional advertising on the wall.

What do I mean? Typo errors unchecked destroy any kind of professional service you may offer. It shows lack of attention to detail. I circled the errors in red.* The errors are so basic that even a child will be able to spot the errors and offer the correct answers. I wonder if the fact that the staff are more proficient in Mandarin than English, then no one will bother proficient in Mandarin than checking the English text in detail. "Most of the customers don't speak English anyway." Wrong move! Minor details that are overlooked damage your image and reputation.

The same applies to this uncovered vent in the consultation room. What I saw through the hole was clean. Good building management. However, I felt unsafe sitting directly under that uncovered vent. I kept wondering if anything was going to fall on my head!

Some cultures just do not pay attention to detail.

Learn a language, learn a culture!

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*Typo errors and corrections:
"i" should be "I"
"Iam" should be "I am"
"All Thanks" should be "All thanks"
"friendly staffs!." should be "friendly staff!"

Go ahead and laugh. I'll get fluent soon!

Taken hostage by the English language
My Filipino friend living in Costa Rica has encountered many funny instances of getting words with similar sounds mixed up. While he has written more about his own journey of learning Spanish and having to use this newly learned language to preach the Gospel and speak publicly about his work, this piece is about a Spanish-speaker learning English. I had such a good laugh reading his post.

I've been there and done that, though not in Spanish. I've had so many Cambodian friends laugh at me because I've mispronounced a word. These young people, many of them my students, would laugh out loud in my face. Thankfully, I had many other slightly older young people who patiently corrected me till I got fluent. Learning a language takes a lot of hard work and humility, maybe even humiliation, depending on how you look at it. However, the more effort and practice you put in, the better you get at it. The rewards of being able to communicate freely in another language are immeasurable.

Summer in the northern hemisphere is just around the corner. Many will start planning summer holidays soon. Some may even visit another country or visit a place that has a completely different culture from your own e.g. visiting Chinatown in San Francisco, or Little Italy in New York City. Why not immerse yourself in the experience by learning some words or phrases of that people group before you go? You'll make new friends a lot faster and endear yourself to a new culture.

Plan your summer holiday well! Learn a language to get the most out of your holiday experience!

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3 countries, 1 piece of history

Piece of Berlin Wall on display in Singapore

This headline caught my eye when I saw it. Three countries were involved in this display: former East Germany, Singapore (where Bedok is located) and USA.

Former East Germany: piece of Berlin Wall that was on display.
Singapore: welcomed the piece of Berlin Wall to be displayed in Bedok, where the then-Member of Parliament (MP) was personal friends with the owners of the piece of Berlin Wall.
USA: where the owners of the piece of Berlin Wall are from and will be returning to shortly.

Is this multi-cultural? Certainly. Singaporeans living in Bedok (an everyday, ordinary neighbourhood) got to appreciate a piece of world history, plus the artwork that was painted on. Some of the elderly who have never been to school may not even know where Germany is, or that there once was an East and a West Germany, divided by a large wall. Yet, thanks to the generosity of the American owners and the innovative thinking of the MP and personal friend, ordinary folk were exposed to a piece of world history that would enrich their lives for a period of time.

Well, the display period has come to and end, but the people who have seen this piece of art will have their lives forever changed. One cannot walk past a piece of world history and not be affected by it. Similarly, one cannot come into contact with a person of another language and culture and not be affected by it.

Let's embrace another language and culture, instead of waiting for another language and culture to affect us. Our lives will be so much richer for that.

Let's celebrate each other's language and culture!

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Cross the road? At your own risk!

Cross the road China-style

Roads in the big cities in China are filled to the brim with vehicles of every shape and size. Each main road is at least six lanes wide. If not for traffic lights, how do you cross the road? Chinese citizens have created an informal system that is labelled 中国式过马路, which is loosely translated as "crossing the road China-style".

How it works: gather at a traffic junction where you want to cross to the other side. When a large enough crowd gathers, cross the road as a big group, regardless of the traffic signal. The idea is that there is safety in numbers, so vehicles will slow down when they see so many people crossing the road as a group.

While it may have worked for sometime, police are now cracking down on this illegal and dangerous practice. If caught, you get fined RMB10, equivalent to five times the train fare. So far, it still hasn't deterred people from continuing this practice.

Cross the road in Hanoi if you can

Let's cross over to Hanoi, Vietnam, now. Traffic here is notoriously crazy. Even locals complain that people drive crazy in that city. So how do you cross the road here? Just step off the curb and inch your way across the road, keeping an eye out for motorcycles. Keep moving and vehicles will go around you. Nothing to fear. Before you know it, you'll be on the other side.

Well, tourists from countries that practice strict adherence to traffic rules are petrified when in Hanoi. It is so bad that guest house and hotel staff have maps complete with the easiest places to cross the road to get to a tourist destination.

Is it really that bad? Personally, I don't think so. I've been to Hanoi twice. Crossing the road there is no different from crossing the road down south in Ho Chi Minh City. Just step off the curb and go! The same goes for crossing the road in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

At the end of the day, it all boils down to observing common sense when crossing the road in any city or country. Don't import what you do at home to the new place. You will be frustrated. Embrace the new culture, warts and all. You'll enjoy yourself so much more that way!

Let's celebrate culture!

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Noodles, truly Asian food

Asian noodles

How people eat rice and the difference between Chinese and Korean ways of eating got me thinking about noodles.

Noodles are a truly Asian food. Before there was spaghetti, Marco Polo visited China, saw noodles (and probably tasted them), then brought noodles back to Italy. Today, pasta is made by machine, but the Chinese still make noodles by hand. There are so many traditional ways to make noodles. Just to name a few: hand pulling, cutting the flat dough into strips with a knife, sitting on a long bunch of bamboo sticks and jumping up and down over the dough to cut it up.

Regardless of how it is made, noodles are long strings of dough that can be tricky to eat. Is there a correct way to eat noodles? It all depends on which country you are in. Can you use chopsticks? That would help a lot.

In general, noodles are fried or served in soup. Fried noodles that are dry may be easier to eat, since they will not splash gravy onto your clothes. When the fried noodles have gravy or noodle soup, you will need a spoon to help you. Many websites tell you to slurp up the soup noisily (the louder, the better) to compliment the host. However, that practice is outdated. We Asians have adopted the Western ways of eating quietly. The only noise we should hear is that of friendly chatter, not slurping. Even the Japanese today will frown on someone slurping up his soup. It just isn't the norm anymore.

So before you go anywhere new, do read up on the Do's and Don'ts of a culture, but don't take what you read as truth. It's best to observe the locals and ask as many questions as you like. What impresses your host most is not how much you know about their culture but how eager you are to learn about them.

Have fun! Learn the language in the process and impress your hosts even further!

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Same rice, different utensils

White Rice

Most people I have met think of rice as an Asian food. However, I found that rice really is a universal food. Africans eat rice. Americans eat rice, Asians eat rice. Maybe the difference is how we cook the rice and the utensils with whcih we use to eat it.

I had talked earlier about Koreans and Chinese using chopsticks to eat rice, but Koreans don't lift the bowl off the table, unlike the Chinese. In South-East Asia, we either use a fork and spoon to eat rice off a dinner plate, or use our hands, like the Indians. Westerners I know use a fork to eat rice. I have tried many times, but I can't get used to that. My American friend, who lived in Cambodia for many years, held up a dinner spoon and remarked, "This is a much better shovel!" I agree. Eating rice with a fork just doesn't do the job. The rice grains keep falling off the tines. A spoon keeps the rice together until it gets into my mouth.

For cultures that use their hands to eat, they are differences too. Indians use the whole hand, including the palm. The scoop up the rice with food and gravy, then squeeze the rice into a ball to get the gravy out. The lump then goes into the mouth. The hand is covered with gravy.

Malays use only the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand. The left hand is used for unclean things.

Sticky rice ball

Lao people eat sticky white rice, rather than normal white rice. They too use only the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand. The sticky rice is pinched off the large amount, then pressed together into a small ball. Dip the ball into the plate of food, picking up some food (meat, vegetables, fish, etc), then put it into your mouth.

However you choose to eat rice, it will still end up in your mouth. Just enjoy the local way of eating! And if you can speak a bit of their language, you will enjoy the meal even more!

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Please don't pinch the fruit

My friend from Perth, Australia, took this photo in Singapore. She thought it was so funny to read "Please Don't Pinch the Fruit". A comment from her friend was even funnier: "Oh, and all the fruit juices you get there too." To which the photographer replied: "I'm pretty confident they mean don't squeeze the fruit." That set me thinking about the difference between "pinch" and "squeeze".

Pinch: to squeeze between the thumb and a finger.

Squeeze: 1. to exert pressure on, as by way of extracting liquid; 2. to extract by or as if by applying pressure.

Minor difference between the two. But, the sentence could also be taken to mean: "please don't steal the fruit" since another meaning of "pinch" is to "pilfer or steal". Either way, it makes complete sense. It will then be up to the reader to interpret the meaning for himself.

It may seem odd to tell people not to squeeze the fruit, but, unfortunately, this is a bad Asian habit. We like our fruit fresh, ripe and sweet. One way is to pick it up and smell it (durians, nectarines, peaches). Another way is to gently squeeze the middle of the fruit to see if it is soft and ready to eat. If it is hard, then you can either choose a riper fruit, or keep it for a few days to ripen naturally before eating. But, squeezing the fruit gently will leave dents and bumps on the inside of the fruit, making it unsaleable. More often than not, we tend to squeeze the fruit rather than smell it.

I don't know if westerners do the same when shopping for fruit. Or is it a universal bad habit? I've never seen an American squeeze fruit in the supermarket. Neither do they spend a long time digging to the bottom of the pile just to choose the "best" one. What's wrong with those on top? I've found equally good fruit on top of the pile.

I once stood in front of a pile of oranges in the supermarket. Next to me was a family from China. The little girl about 8 years old was digging around the pile choosing oranges. I don't think she really knew what she was looking for. Perfectly good oranges were being thrown aside in search of the perfect ones. Her father was very patient, but I was not. She was blocking the way and just being a pain. I gently told her off, but the whole family ignored me. I love my Chinese friends, but their habits have been the subject of many criticisms around the world.

Change does not happen overnight. While trying to effect change, let us learn about each other's cultures and habits. Encourage the good and discourage the bad habits. Let's make this world a friendlier place!

Learn about a new culture today!

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How do you eat rice?

Gillian Chung is from Hong Kong. Her latest boyfriend is Korean American. Language of communication: English. Similarities: both Asian, both eat rice. Yet, Gillian said there's a little cultural divide between them.

Take, for instance, mealtimes on dates with him. She said: "Koreans don't raise their rice bowls when they eat as that's impolite to them. I'm still not used to that and feel as if I've incapacitated one hand." (Straits Times Life!, 20 March 2013)

So we thought that all Asians eat rice from a bowl using chopsticks. That's where the similarities end. How we eat tells where we have come from. I am Chinese. I can eat rice from a bowl with chopsticks, but I don't raise my bowl to my mouth and shovel the rice in. My mother told me often that was how low class people ate rice. Rich and refined people used their chopsticks to pick up a lump of rice grains and place it politely in the mouth. But I held the rice bowl in my left hand and used the chopsticks with my right hand. Till today, if I'm eating anything from a bowl, I will hold the bowl in my left hand and bring it up to about neck level. My grandmother and mother always said, "Bring the food to your mouth, not your mouth to your food." In other words, bring the bowl close to your mouth. Don't bend over to bring your mouth as close to the bowl on the table as possible.

However, I don't do that if drinking Western soup! The bowl stays on the table. Only my right hand moves, using the soup spoon. Now, I've learned that Koreans do the same. Leave the bowl on the table. Use only the chopsticks.

I just learned something new today. Next time I eat Korean food, I need to remember to eat Western style but use chopsticks to pick up my food.

Happy learning another culture and language!

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Speak their language, don't understand them

I speak their language, but I don't understand what they are saying.

My friend has said this to me several times over the years. He has lived in his adopted country for more than 10 years, has a local wife and a son who attends a local school. He should be an expert in the local culture and language by now. But why did he say this? Why aren't the locals getting through to him? Where has the communication failed?

Communication is more than just words. We all know that. Ho hum. Learning a language does not equal being able to communicate. All it enables us to do is be able to "get by" in the new language. We can say what we need to say, but do they really get what we mean? Sometimes yes, oftentimes, no.

It takes many years, some say a lifetime, to fully understand and get into the psyche of a people and their culture. It does help if you are not so far removed from that culture e.g. a Chinese Singaporean person who works in Hong Kong. Yes, ethnically they are the same - Chinese. Yet, they are vastly different. Even if they are from the same language group i.e. Cantonese, Singaporeans and Hong Kongers are vastly different. Even the use of words is laced with nuances that another cannot understand. How much more this difference is magnified when you get a Westerner who lives and works in Asia! He may speak the local language fluently, but he will still complain like my friend did - just can't understand what goes on in their heads.

Can we just try to see something from their perspective? It isn't easy. But it isn't impossible either. It takes a lot of humility to say "I am a student". I have chosen to be a student of other cultures, not claiming to know it all. My eyes and horizon have widened and been greatly enriched because of this. The Chinese have a saying, 活到老，学到老. In English, it means, "live till an old age, learn till an old age". Perhaps a better translation would be "learning is lifelong".

Will you continue learning a new language and culture till the day you die? I will try. I want to keep learning something new every day! Find a tool here to help you.

Have fun learning!

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Short, to the point, but sweet?

Singaporeans are known to be efficient in all that they do. Everything in the country is supposed to work like clockwork, never breaking down. Well, almost. In our quest for speed and efficiency, our communication gets that way too. We are "to the point", without beating around the bush, even in sensitive areas.

It's possible that we got this from the Americans. Singapore is a mix of both east and west, but more west than east. We function in English more than any other Asian language. I was pleasantly surprised when I read this post on American Business English.

Communication is a two-way street. The sender has a certain message he wants to convey. The reader may perceive a different meaning. In brief communication, the tone may sound completely rude, simply because the message is so "to the point". But, remove that thought and step back one step. All we're trying to do is get the message across quickly. Personally, I like that. Going round in circles drives me nuts. Just tell it to me straight. I won't be offended.

Can that happen in Asia? Maybe in the next generation. In the meantime, we have to be students of the culture we're working with, which may not necessarily be our own. Or we can take a Business English course from +Mohalam Gonoux.

Happy learning!

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Talk with your hands, not with your mouth

Language is all about communication. Language may not always take the form of oral communication, but we do find that we talk faster than we can read. So, can your hands move faster than you can talk?

Deaf and hearing-impaired people are a special breed. They talk with their hands, often accompanied by facial expressions. They can't hear, but they are very expressive when they communicate. It is quite fun to watch them "talking" to each other, but I stop myself quickly because I'm eavesdropping, even though I don't understand a word!

There are many kinds of Sign Language: American, British, etc. I was told by a deaf person that the deaf don't have a problem understand another form of Sign Language. It's the hearing who get confused! Somehow the deaf can understand each other across the "language divide" quite well.

Why not learn Sign Language today? It will open up a whole new world and culture. You can also help the hearing-impaired with their studies in school. Learn something and bless someone with your new-found skills!

Happy Signing from Fun Language Tools!

Culture change - one person at a time

Wasting food vs. being a good host. A good Chinese host always provides an abundance of food, regardless of the number of guests. There must be leftovers to show that I can afford to feed you till you can't eat any more. Official banquets must be lavish. Tables must overflow with expensive and exotic food. Even if I'm eating alone or with 1 other person, I must order 2-3 dishes. We eat less than half of each dish, finish all our rice, and leave. The leftovers get thrown away. Normal practice in China.

Enter Operation Empty Plate. Here's what it is (taken from www.businessinsider.com):
"Beijing has launched a campaign (People's Daily) against waste and official gluttony. It began with "four dishes and a soup" and has progressed to "operation empty plate". "Operation empty plate" apparently was started by netizens earlier this month, Sina Weibo has promoted it and today it is on page one of People's Daily--人民日报-吃光盘中餐　今日不剩饭 “光盘行动”得到热烈响应. The People's Daily says that "operation empty plate" has been forwarded "50 million" times around the Internet (记者追踪“今天，你吃光盘中食物了吗” “光盘行动”被转发5000万次).

Whether it is really a grassroots movement or something coordinated by the Ministry of Propaganda with assistance from Sina, it is desperately needed here as the amount of food waste is quite shocking (South China Morning Post): Agricultural scientist Yuan Longping has called on Beijing to stop people wasting tens of thousands of tonnes of food each year by issuing fines.

Yuan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering who is known as "the father of hybrid rice", said he had seen too many sumptuous banquets that ended up with many leftovers. The People's Daily cartoonists are quite talented and today they have a good one (Screenshot) depicting officials pigging out under a table in response to the campaign to stop waste and gluttony. Today's paper also has a commentary about special privileges and waste--人民日报-吃空饷背后的身份特权."

What good is a campaign if it's just on paper? Enter Mr Cheng Guangbiao, Chinese billionaire and philanthropist. He led by example (as shown in the picture above). "Better to take action than to say it 1000 times!" He may be a controversial figure in Chinese society, but, hey, at least he's doing something about not wasting food, rather than just paying lip-service! I label him a trend-setter.

Doing business in China is sometimes a mystery. You can read all the books (which is a really good thing to do), yet it never really prepares you for reality. Just make sure you are ready to eat good food and drink lots of hard liquor.

Have fun doing business in the world's #5 Fastest Growing Country - China!

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Do Asians hug each other?

It is very common for Asian women to hug in public, especially among the younger crowd. Men? No way! Hugging is sissy! Worse, people will think they're gay. Homosexuality in most parts of Asia is still frowned upon, not celebrated. Hugging between men and women? They will be viewed in the same way as if they were having sex in public. Unacceptable behaviour.

"Hugging is a good medicine. It transfers energy and gives the person hugged an emotional lift. You need 4 hugs a day for survival, 8 for maintenance and 12 for growth. Scientists say that hugging is a form of communication because it can say things you don't have the words for. And the nicest thing about a hug is that you usually can't give one without getting one." - quoted

My Cambodian friend who is rather western in her ways posted the above quote. I love it! I love hugs too!
A Junior High School class in America were doing a lesson on the Seven Wonders of the World. Each listed what they thought were the official list, then the class voted and narrowed the list down. One quiet girl was asked what her list was because she didn't say anything during the lesson.

"I think the Seven Wonders of the World are:

1. to touch...
2. to taste...
3. to see...
4. to hear... (She hesitated a little, and then added...)
5. to feel...
6. to laugh...
7. and to love.

Human beings regardless of culture are the same. We are all made to love and be loved. Anybody young or old will enjoy being hugged. I do!

I've been pleasantly surprised in the last year or so that my Asian male friends do ask me for a hug. They're not perverts, neither are they "the special someone". They're my good friends! I enjoy their company, just as much as they do mine. We hug because we want to express our joy at meeting each other again. Maybe Asian culture is changing to be more expressive and less repressive.

Let's spread the love around with a friendship hug!

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