Riverina
- 2010-04-03
I also agree with what you said about Chinese teachers of English at key Chinese universities. They think they are smart and "educated", in reality they are just jealous of foreigners at the university because we are paid more than them, we are better educated than they are, we also have common sense, something that they are always lacking. It is the woman Chinese teacher who is always the biggest and most stuck up snob.
I agree with what you say. But we should be careful not to generalise - there are always exceptions to the rule. Some of the Chinese male teachers can be almost as bad when it comes to backstabbing their colleagues. I guess the culture they are following has two ways of getting ahead in life, maybe practised in tandem. One is by hard work. The other is by denigrating their colleagues, unfairly or otherwise. They should learn some manners, and be more humble. They're supposed to be academics!
I am lucky that at my current uni there are a few nice female Chinese English teachers. However, I should be wary of why they are so friendly. Perhaps the possibility of a "better life" with a foreigner is the reason. Maybe not, but I would warn any FT who wants to become involved with a female Chinese English teacher to be cautious.
Nice to your face, but what are they saying about you behind your back? I've been told by a Chinese friend not to fall for sweet words! Flattery is often used here. Yes,we should be cautious of Chinese female teachers. Don't rush into a romance. Give it time to develop naturally. At the same time you can find out what makes the woman tick! I hope things go well with the Nanning woman working in HK. Maybe she's a woman of good character. But even so, I think you need a woman who will follow you wherever you teach in China. Career women will probably be unwilling to do so, unless their jobs are transferable. That could be a major obstacle in the future if you marry the wrong one!
LNC
- 2010-04-03
I agree with what you wrote. I think that the HK Chinese ( and Singaporean Chinese ), in general, are very arrogant, racist, and yes, they are "snobs", that is a very appropriate word to describe them. However, I have recently become romantically involved with a Hong Kong Chinese girl, she is great, pretty, kind, loving and generous. Her mother and most of her family live here in mainland China. She has told me that the majority of HK people "are not very nice", and she would prefer to live in Nanning. Women from the Philippines and Thailand are regularly abused by HK employers, bullied, and both verbally and physically abused. There is a mountain of evidence to support these claims.
FT's from the Philippines and Africa are also discriminated against in China. I recently tried to help a Filippina friend of mine in Wuhan to find a job in Guangzhou. Hardly anyone wanted to employ her, those that did were only willing to pay her 3000RMB a month!
I also agree with what you said about Chinese teachers of English at key Chinese universities. They think they are smart and "educated", in reality they are just jealous of foreigners at the university because we are paid more than them, we are better educated than they are, we also have common sense, something that they are always lacking. It is the woman Chinese teacher who is always the biggest and most stuck up snob. I am lucky that at my current uni there are a few nice female Chinese English teachers. However, I should be wary of why they are so friendly. Perhaps the possibility of a "better life" with a foreigner is the reason. Maybe not, but I would warn any FT who wants to become involved with a female Chinese English teacher to be cautious.
Riverina
- 2010-04-02
Chinese families of substance often employ housemaids or nannies, not only on mainland, but also in Singapore. Those maids are usually Chinese, but a significant number are foreigners from the poor countries of South Asia, such as the Philippines. If they are Chinese, they'll likely be the uneducated daughters of poor farmers. So, Chinese employers will look down on them, and use and abuse them in some cases, just as they will do to foreign lackeys. The difference is the Chinese women will bear mistreatment silently as a rule, whereas the better educated foreigners will not - they will protest.
That said, I think that in the EFL world in China, Filipinos are finding it more difficult to obtain employment than before, and if they do, they will likely be working for significantly lower pay than native speakers of English. There is definitely racial discrimination by many Chinese employers against not only Filipino job applicants, but also African jobseekers as well as African Americans.
As an example of the attitude of educated Chinese to people in less financially rewarding employment, I'll relate what I was told by a Chinese university teacher of English, who was Chinese. It so happened that her former British foreign teacher had decided to vacation in China. When they met up, the Chinese university teacher asked the foreigner what kind of jobs would be available to Chinese university teachers of English, like her, in Britain. The British foreign teacher of English said that if such a Chinese was also good at cooking, he (or she) could get a job doing so at a Chinese restaurant in the UK. The Chinese lady wasn't buying that, and so asked me to verify if that was true, as I was also from the UK. When I said it was true, she became angry, and said that if any of her friends, all of whom were well educated, were employed to cook in a restaurant, they would be rightly looked down upon by well-educated people, and that it was therefore inappropriate for Chinese people who were well educated to make friends with common workers!
Though this story was about a Chinese teacher of English employed at an ordinary university of technology in a provincial capital, I can assure you that Chinese teachers of English working at key universities or indeed key senior middle schools are much bigger snobs. My advice: avoid teaching at KEY senior middle schools and KEY universities in China, in order to stay clear of some big, 'well-educated (sic)' Chinese snobs.
The true profile of Filipinos
Neps M. Guisona
THE Shenzhen Daily reports (March 9, 18, 23) about the proliferation of illegal Chinese housekeeping agencies in the city aroused concern from the expatriate community.
Han Ximin's feature story, titled "Filipino women, victims of illegal recruitment," which was published March 9, told of the lives of two Filipino victims of illegal recruitment in China, how they escaped the abusive employers and the struggle to recover their passports.
The article also discussed the obvious arrogance of the recruiter Tracy Lu, who acknowledged the fact she is "doing illegal business" and its "foolish to say legal or illegal" to her. I believe China is governed by laws. But if not for mere braggadocio, she wouldn't have smeared the respectable immigration and police officers, who she claims never warned her about her involvement in illegal business.
Additionally, Lu, who claims she wants to be a "rich person," slandered the president of the Philippines, for what she alleged as the latter's inability to provide adequate jobs for Filipinos. The jobless rate in the Philippines does not justify or give Tracy Lu or any other housekeeping agency the right to abuse and exploit people for personal gain. Indeed, Lu is the epitome of the worst type of person in modern Chinese society.
A further report penned by Li Jing, titled "15 illegal Filipino domestic helpers questioned" (March 18), detailed the cases of 15 women caught in another Chinese agent's office in Futian, who the police believed to be working illegally in Shenzhen because they could not present valid work permits. However, the reporter failed to mention that, aside from the employer's 10,000 yuan agency recruitment fee, the Chinese agent also charged the Filipino worker between 9,000 - 14,000 yuan -- a whopping 20,000 yuan, tax free!
This saga illustrates the vulnerability of the expatriate community in China. First, it exposes the weakness of Chinese law in curbing the influx of foreign household workers, undermining their safety. Second, it shows how Chinese illegal recruiters have taken advantage of the rapid economic growth of China. Finally, it shows the weakness of Filipinas in safeguarding their rights in China, given the fact they are illegally working here.
These stories highlight the abuses committed against nationals of neighboring Asian countries. The alleged physical abuse experienced by Rona Mayuga, a Filipino, at the hands of her Chinese employer (March 9), is just one such case.
The Filipino community could either languish in the mindset that the Philippines is a nation of servants, "experienced housekeepers and fluent in English," to quote Li Jing, or live a fuller life of honest labor.
Filipinos approach their craft with dignity and pride. China is home to top notch Filipino architects, interior designers, leading hoteliers, restaurateurs, designers, engineers, lawyers, teachers, researchers and writers. The Filipinos in this country are a fun-loving, respectful, witty and peaceful people. They can smile even in the midst of misery. Widely talented in music, Filipino bands are often considered the life of the party.
Coming from a country with a GDP per capita of about 3,300 USD (1999 estimate), the Filipinos strive to be self-sustaining, never too willing to be beholden to mercy for survival.
Since the 1980s Hong Kong has been a top destination for Filipino professional workers in the fields of business, accounting, banking, engineering and legal services. Hong Kong is also home to more than 200,000 Filipino domestic workers. But as China's economic miracle quickly catches up, Shenzhen is steadily attracting foreigners, including Filipino professionals and non-professionals. But due to Chinese mainland's closed-door policy on foreign domestic servants, Filipinos, Indonesians, Thai and Malaysians are currently barred by Chinese law from taking advantage of the domestic helper job market which holds so much promise.
(The author is a lecturer in physics and freelance researcher from the Philippines.)