The Asian Work Ethic

[Guest]

>>>It is not, IMO, the not-working-hard quality that makes most of the Thais stay poor or not rich, but it is the money management skills that most Thais don?t have while the Chinese people do. <<<

 

very interesting point.

that fills in some point for me. i do see thais working extremely hard, when my missus worked in a upcountry restaurant she did regular 16 - 20 hour days, seven days a week, 2 days off a year. i see factory workers pulling the same hours. years with an average of 4 hours sleep a night. so in that aspect not different from any other poor population of a developing country, no different than the chinese immigrants here.

very interesting point.

[Guest lazyphil]

<<i see factory workers pulling the same hours. years with an average of 4 hours sleep a night>>

 

Exactly what my mrs tells me of her days at Toshiba. Not to mention people I see on building sites sweating their nuts off in the most dangerous of positions. These are very bold statements being made by Jasmine.

[kamui]

Says jp1:

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There was a similar work ethic some 15-20 years ago in Japan. In fact, Japan was reconstructed after WWII by people who gave their everything to bring Japan up again. With the ever growing standard of living over here this work ethic has changed a bit. Japanese still work hard but also tend to use all advantages, which are offered by employers or by law ? at least in the company I work for.

---

 

Germany was famous for very strong work ethics, but this gone since decades. Now we belong to the countries with the most holidays:: - and almost no German employee would EVER think about NOT taking all holidays or keeping some days in case he/she would be ill, like the Japanese still do. And the Germans still rely on an extreme expensive and ineffective social security and health care systems. The result: Despite the high skills in engineering e.g. Germany belongs to the weakest economies in Europe and what is more worse with a very bad outlook for the upcoming years.

[Guest lazyphil]

<<a long line of Chinese fanatics I've observed over the past 20 or so years - these people absolutely love work>>

 

Not long ago I was on nights with a work mate when an intruder alarm went off in a lab/write up area in a uni building, we bundled around there expecting a rumble with some hoodlums (not my idea of fun :, it turned out to be a Chinese guy had made himself a 'bed' for the night under his desk and set the alarm off going for a piss at 2am, he was pretty shocked to find us charge into his area looking for bad guys!!

 

 

[gobbledonk]

Phil,

 

I hear ya. Unlike several of my fellow students during my Undergrad years, I didnt leave assignments until the last minute, and rarely had to put in all-nighters to get them finished on time. On one occasion where I was put in that position, however, I was shocked to find myself in a lab at 2am with a horde of Asian students (mostly Singaporeans), all happily pounding away at their keyboards. These people absolutely come alive at night, whilst I am *not* a nite owl by nature, so I was initially resentful of their cheerful queries re my assignment, but I soon gave in to the 'shared pain' ideal and learnt that it is possible to laugh under pressure at some unGodly hour in the morning.

 

I'd also like to point out that my post wasnt designed to make wild generalisations re Thais, Chinese or any other group - it was just an observation that many Chinese seem to enjoy hard labour, in contract to the Farang perception of many Thais attitude toward work. I have no doubt that labourers, whether in a factory or on a construction site, work harder than I'll ever know : the job simply wouldnt get done otherwise. I am fortunate to live in a country where we dont have to spend 16 hours a day at work to make a 'reasonable' living, but that may change. If it does, I merely hope that I can shoulder the burden with the same degree of acceptance that many Chinese seem to.

 

 

[Guest]

In my view, there's no such thing as an "Asian Work Ethic".

 

There IS such thing, though, as a "Confucian Work Ethic", which is at work in the countries where Confucianism is an intrinsic part of the culture: primarily China (including Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc.), Korea, Japan, Vietnam. And, of course, where Chinese have settled overseas.

 

Then there are the rest of the Asian cultures (including Thai) whose work ethic is -- shall we say -- not so intense!

[Guest]

I spent 5 years living and working in China and I must agree.

 

I lived in and worked for a factory there and would see workers in the office everynight late and even on Sundays their holiday

 

They are truly a hard working people.

 

I only wish my Thai staff here would work 1/10 as hard as my Chinese staff did.......

[Guest]

I have a different perspective on the Asian work ethic, actually the white-collar Japanese work ethic that may also exist in other Asian cultures.

 

In many major Japanese corporations, like the one I've worked at for over 10 years, its more important to be seen in the office for long hours, rather than to actually work long hours.

 

Us foreigners have a more roll up the sleeves and get stuck in attitude that makes us more productive on an hourly basis. Our local counterparts catch up by coming in on weekends and staying late -- often to milk the overtime system.

 

Thankfully, our bosses understand these cultural differences and cut us some slack.

 

Many older Japanese know nothing but work and often go to the office on weekends after the wife kicks them out of the house. Once in the office many just read the paper, do the crossword, have lunch, watch the baseball and go home.

 

Don't know if the same exists in China or Thailand but long hours doesn't always add up to hard work. Of course, it's a lot more difficult to fake it in the blue-collar world.

[Guest]

Ill tell you though, at least with respect to my wife, she has one of those "Asian" work ethics...there is one task at my workplace that none of us w\ill do (assembling small parts, it sucks), so we make my wife do it, she sets her self up with some candy, cold drink, her walkman with some techno and just sits there and assembles and assembles and assembles and assembles and assembles until I cant stand it anymore!!!

[Guest]

So I take it you're no origami expert either WA?