December 2009 / January 2010 - Association of Dutch Businessmen

Business
in. After the meeting people just disappear,
normally without giving any feedback.
- And second, the people that attend the
meeting: Chinese people. I found some good
insight in differences between cultures on
www.globesmart.com. After a close look at
this picture I understood there was some work
to be done. Grey is the Chinese, white the
Dutch. This definitely helped me being more
effective in my management style!
Also a matter of learning through practice:
Festive celebrations. A round table, plenty of
food and Chinese red wine are the ingredients of
Chinese New Year celebrations. You go around, yell
“Gan Bei” to anyone, you laugh loudly, you slam
the red wine away and then you yell something like
“Happy Ox”. After some practice a lot of fun.
Lunchtime was my favorite. We were given
special pink ‘Tunch’ vouchers that we could
exchange for food in the canteen. The food was
rather good, very Chinese style. The Chinese word
for food is ‘fan’, which also translates to rice. So
there is rice mornings, midday’s and evenings.
Sometimes there was ‘French fried’, but more
often not. And then after lunch, the curtains close,
the stretchers come out of under the desk, the
lights go off, the phones go on mute and everybody
goes to sleep. I can assure you after nine hectic
months: A wonderful oasis in the midst of turbulent
meetings!
Although the life experience gained working
in China was fantastic, I am glad to be back in
Singapore.
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Vol.19 • No. 10 • December 2009 / January 2010