Gareth
- 2015-11-13
What I have noticed is there have been a few posts recently where people have actually
produced factual evidence which clearly is fact and not fiction and they have
mysteriously gone silent
Thats a fair point actually and I would also be interested to hear as to why the regular know-it-alls suddenly had nothing to say. Probably because they know that there is someone on the ground who knows more than they do.
Caring
- 2015-11-13
The critical thinking skill to see through the smog is truly a challenge as well as it's tough to cope with the environment we aren't used to.
Phil
- 2015-11-13
The problem is that the 'big three' contributors to most of the posts appear to offer mostly substantial 'opinions' largely based on historical subjective evidence.
I am all for freedom of speech but sometimes these particular posters seem to have opinions about everything, everywhere and everyone. Even related to genuine questions about China they seem to have been there or done that when it is clearly they could not have had time to do so.
What I have noticed is there have been a few posts recently where people have actually produced factual evidence which clearly is fact and not fiction and they have mysteriously gone silent. I was pleased to note you yourself had the initiative to actually thank someone for providing valuable information. That in itself proves my point. For this board to retain its credibility then there needs to be more actual facts than offerings of opinion and the moderators need to start clearing the gang of trolls which are slowly taking root.
Working and living in a foreign country is invariably a formative experience. I admire the resolve and initiative of individuals that voluntarily choose to leave their homeland and work in a country where they do not speak the native language, where they have few, if any, friends, and where they will be employed by an organization about which they have little information.
My admiration for this cohort is unfortunately tempered by the observation that many of these ‘expats’ suffer upon arrival in China. Some of their suffering is the result of unscrupulous employers and invasive regulatory requirements. This site attempts to provide these new FTs with data about these employers prior to their arrival and legal and palliative recourse if they are already employed by a company where profit rather than education is the mission statement.
Unfortunately, it must also be said that some FTs arrive in China already damaged. The behavior and communication of these individuals neither are China’s fault nor welcomed by the Chinese people. I routinely caution my students to recognize that ‘expats’ are NOT representative of the general population of their homeland.
The careful reader of this forum will be able to distinguish between contributors that are providing information and contributors that are, in Ginsberg’s words, “destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked”.