Saturday October 24, 2009
So how, ah?
By MARIA DANIEL
When travelling, you’d be making a mistake if you assumed Chinese culture is the same everywhere.
When you know that mooncakes and lanterns signal the start of the Mid-Autumn Festival, that Chinese New Year is the time for firecrackers and new clothes, and that round tables and red tablecloths are symbols of harmony, prosperity, fortune and other good things, it seems you have a pretty good handle on Chinese culture.
Above: Frequent traveller, Dr Michael Cheah. But do you?
While Chinese communities around the world share basic cultural icons, many practices are strictly local. Academics spend years cataloguing differences and writing papers about their findings but for a good snapshot of the issues that face travellers today there is nothing like listening to the stories of a successful trader.
One such person is Dr Michael Cheah, managing director of Jintai, a company that specialises in industrial chemicals and machinery.
He travels regularly to China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as doing business in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Egypt and the Middle East. Consequently, Dr Cheah who has a PhD in Chemistry, has a wealth of interesting observations and stories about how Chinese culture vary from place to place.
Speaking in tongues
“Mandarin is the official language that unites Chinese communities around the world,” he observes.
“Or at least that is the theory. In practice there are many different accents. For example, Singaporean Mandarin can sound quite different from the Mandarin spoken by someone from Beijing or from that spoken in Shantou in Guangdong province.
“The same goes for Teochew, Cantonese and Hokkien. The dialects I learned when I was growing up in Kedah have words that sound quite different when spoken by people from overseas. Also, we have words they’ve never even heard of.
“For example, some time ago we were building a house in Shantou. I was talking to a builder about buying more stone. We were both speaking Teochew but he didn’t have a clue what I was talking about because I kept talking about our need for more batu, which is a borrowed word from Malay whereas he called it chio tau. I had to rack my brain to try and remember the proper word for stone. Luckily, sometimes you can just point.”
Just as Hollywood movies affect the English language, the huge popularity of Hong Kong movies and Cantopop means that Cantonese is constantly evolving.
While the lexicon in China and Hong Kong may be confounding, you can mitigate the situation by mastering customs like learning how to use chopsticks. — AP PHOTO For example, when older Hongkongers call someone “cool” they mean that person is aloof or stand-offish. But younger people use the word as a compliment, meaning popular or fashionable.
“When young people speak, it’s not always obvious what they mean because they use catchphrases from popular films and songs that older folk just haven’t heard of,” Dr Cheah adds.
“Plus, Hong Kong Cantonese has a lot of English mixed into it while Malaysian Cantonese has a lot of Malay words mixed into it. If you don’t speak those languages, things become very difficult.
“On top of that, the old people from the cantons have a very different vocabulary than the city people. Figuring out who is saying what can therefore be a challenge, especially if you get a mixed crowd at a table.”
Interestingly, expressions to do with copyright, accounts, service agreements and other business matters are much more likely to be the same in all dialects. It is the everyday matters where the really big regional variations hit the unwary traveller.
Food confusion
Brave souls who have learned some Chinese phrases for their travels will know that answering the question: “What would you like to eat?” with the phrase chin chai will get green veggy from someone who thinks in Mandarin but will be given all sorts of other dishes by a Hokkien speaker who interprets that phrase as “Anything”!
Dr Cheah cheerfully agrees that ordering a meal can be a minefield.
“Ordering basic stuff like baby kailan in garlic is usually all right but anything more complicated is a challenge. Not only does every province have its own way of cooking but everyone also has a different name for the same dish.”
A classic example of how complex food can be concerns popiah (spring roll). As Internet-based foodies observe, popiah comes with a salty sauce in northern Taiwan but with a sweet sauce in southern Taiwan. In Malaysia, local turnip is a big ingredient, but in Fujian province the big ingredient is a Chinese pork sausage called lup cheong. Diners in Hong Kong say their popiah comes with shrimp or crabmeat. Fans in Xiamen city in China like theirs laced with a little diced seaweed.
“I don’t get too involved in it all,” Dr Cheah confesses. “If I’m looking for something in particular I talk to the staff and we discuss it in detail. Otherwise, I ask them to give me the speciality of the house — that’s usually the best thing on the menu. And if I see someone eating something that looks good, I just ask if I can have the same.”
Getting it right
When giving a gift to a business acquaintance in China may be construed as bribery (a serious offence) but a common courtesy, even during a first meeting, in Taiwan, it pays to get your cultural ducks in a row before venturing on your trip.
“Most Malaysian Chinese have ancestors from south China so the north and west are new to us. It can be very different from anything you know, like a different world,” Dr Cheah cautions.
“Also, as customs do differ over time and place, I do my homework before going to any new place, even if I think their culture is one I’m already familiar with.”
For the non-Chinese, Dr Cheah offers these basic tips:
1) Learn Mandarin, as it is the most commonly spoken language.
2) As socialising is an essential part of doing business, you must learn to eat with chopsticks.
3) Find out what the locals like to do most and master it. For example, karaoke is not that big in China but it is vital for socialising in Taiwan.
4) Read guide books as these often have lots of useful information.
Last and best is to find a guru who can give you the inside info and tell you what’s what when you ask, “So how, ah?”
Instant information
Thinking of going to China or other foreign countries and want a heads-up? Check out these fantastic, free online resources.
Executive Planet at executiveplanet.com has free “Essential Cultural Guides” for business travellers.
Each page is hosted by an expert who gives advice on everything from formal greetings and how to present a corporate gift to what sort of situations you can expect to encounter during business negotiations.
Travlang’s Foreign Languages for Travellers at travlang.com is the perfect tool for travellers interested in learning the basics of a local language.
Guides have lists of common phrases, each of which comes with a sound file so you can practise the correct pronunciation and intonation.
Geographia at geographia.com has a database of articles telling you what’s what for major cities around the world that includes a basic fact sheet, a potted local history, places to see and general hints and tips. It also has excellent links to official country tourist portals.
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