Rudeness Breeds Rudeness

Why are people in China rude?

I've heard a lot of comments from friends and colleagues about how poor the service attitude is in China. It seems that waiters in China are just not service oriented. Personally, I have found some truth in this. Waiters in China are pushy. They force you to order tea (which costs extra), and more expensive dishes (like seafood and steak). If you don't follow their recommendations, they make their disappointment known via body language/attitude. Orders are never perfect. If you order five dishes, there's a good chance that one of them won't show up. When you complain about the absent dish, you will once again be met with disdain.

However, its not always like that. One very peculiar thing I noticed is that when foreigners are present, some waiters will suddenly "light up". Good manners all around. The waiters are suddenly attentive, laughing at their loose grasp of the English language, replacing chopsticks with forks and knives, ready and waiting with soda and beer. Why this sudden change in attitude?

Most foreigners are polite. Still don't understand?

Most of the Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese who dine in these same restaurants are very rude to the staff. They never give any thanks to their servers. A nice "thank you" is never met with a "you're welcome". They also never say "please" or "excuse me". Servers have gotten tired of customers not giving any gratitude. They get nothing in return for being polite, whether that be a simple thanks, or a monetary tip (tipping is not customary in China).

Foreigners on the other hand not only tip (out of habit), but they're also very polite (again out of habit). Servers treat foreigners better because foreigners treat them better.

It is that simple. If Hong Kong people are more polite to their Mainland counterparts, they will find that China may not be as impolite as they think.

我們的祖國... 唉 Part V

China 101
Bigger fist = More Power
(Click picture to read article)
See here for the online version

Hunan County government big shot attaches army license plates to his car in order to bypass routine security checkpoints. Local checkpoint traffic cop gets suspicious, and stops big shot's car for inspection. Big shot gets pissed, and calls his army-related thugs to beat up the traffic cop.

Would this hapen in your country? This would be like Senator John Kerry riding in an Army Humvee in attempt to avoid paying his toll on the Mass Pike. If a state trooper stopped him, what is the likelyhood that he'd call the National Guard to come beat up this Statie?

1. Very likely
2. Likely
3. Not likely
4. Very unlikely
5. None of the above

Well... I think I'll pick number five, none of the above. The answer is yes, if hell freezes over.

This blogger has a different take on the situation. Our big shot, Liu Hua (劉樺) is simply a crappy politician. Read the article here.

Luckily, this incident was caught on video. I am quite sure that unfair incidents like this happen all the time. None of them ever see the light, as the victims are likely threatened and tend to keep quiet. I certainly hope that this will signal the end to Liu Hua's political career. Let this be a warning to future Chinese officials. Using your political power in the form of brute force will not be tolerated. How is this different from a street gang? Liu Hua is a thug, and he should be allowed nowhere near a position of power (as with many other Chinese politicians).

More articles on this ridiculous incident: here, here, and here.

A Bit of Control

Last time I was in China, I noticed something different. I could view my blog! That's right folks. Blogger blogs were suddenly visible in the Mainland. I don't know if it was a hole in the system, a glitch in the Matrix. It makes me slightly giddy.

Recently in the news, Google was criticized by the world for allowing China to impose censorship with Google dot CN. I have a couple of thoughts on that. Why is Google catching all the flak, when all the other search engines are also abiding by this communist rule? Do they really have a choice?

I think the main question is: would the world be better off with Google not being available in China? The answer is no. For China to break loose from the communist wrath, they must have access to Google. It is a small first step in breaking away from censorship. Why? Because in a decade's time, when Google becomes indispensible to China's education system and economy (like it has become in the U.S.), they will have control over China and not the other way around. Google will slowly but surely remove the censorship facade from China. Chinese people will be free at last.

Lets just hope communists aren't reading this... ha ha. Even if they are, what can they do? Who can refuse the vast resource called Google? Then again, will Google become the next China? Afterall, they will be in control of what we search for and what we cannot.