An alfresco bar in Shanghai’s scenic People’s Park. (Picture courtesy of Jia Zhen).
So how do you adapt to working in China?
There are certain principles I believe in. For example, you do your market research and get recommendations but you discuss them with the team first. This helps to shorten the meeting time to say, half an hour. When I first moved there, it was seven to eight hours of meetings a day, which really frustrated me, because I have a lot other work to. But you have to adapt to it.
At the same time though, there are certain areas that you can’t comprise in. But you can actually make everyone’s life better. Not everyone likes to be in meetings all day because they have work to do as well. So it has to be a win-win situation. Basically, it is about being flexible. Don’t impose your perception of what Singapore is like in China. Just play it by ear as you work there.
While adapting is one thing, you could also identify some principles that you think you can bring from Singapore such as doing some homework and research and working out an agenda before a meeting. This will definitely make things more efficient. You could help to improve the way things work in the company.
There are certain work cultures that you can bring from Singapore to China that bring out efficiency and make it a win-win for all. Adapt and apply them.
Also have an authority such as the top management backing you up because things will move a lot faster. What they say is important. You need to work with her and cooperate with her. Without this, things won’t move so it helps to make things easier.
But whatever you do, engaging and communicating with the stakeholders is important.
How easy is it for Singaporeans and Malaysians to adapt to the living and working conditions in China?
It’s definitely a challenge. I think nothing is easy when you are moving from Singapore. Even though we are still in Asia, China is very different to Singapore. There’s a language barrier for a start. Even if you speak Mandarin, their Mandarin is very different.
There is also a lot of physical pushing and shoving there in public, which is common in a more crowded city so that it is not easy but the key thing is to go there with an open mind.
The important thing is that you must adapt to life there. Once you impose certain cultural and practices from Singapore, it will only make life harder and more difficult.
Love letters from a matchmaking session taking place at Shanghai’s People’s Park. (Picture courtesy of Jia Zhen).
What is the biggest challenge of living in China compared to Singapore?
Figuring out how things work in China is quite complex. For example, if you are trying to get a bankcard, you may go to five banks and be told that you can’t do it because you are a foreigner. Finally you realise that only the Bank of China opens bank accounts for foreigners and when you get there, it is a three-hour process.
So I think at the end of the day, the hardest part was when I had to figure out how things work and how the train system works. But once you have become familiar with things there, it just gets a lot easier. I didn’t even know how to pay bills in the first few months. When I spoke to people, they just say to pay online, but I’m not a Chinese citizen so I can’t just open an account online. So it took me three months before I got used to it.
What are the most enjoyable aspects of living and working in Shanghai?
It’s a huge city much bigger than Singapore and it’s very Chinese but is also very international at the same time. Beijing can’t even compare – even though it’s the capital. When I feel homesick, I can easily find Singapore food, go to expat places and meet different people. (TO NEXT PAGE)
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