Originally Posted by
clean32
Hell i was just on holiday, even had to fill out an annual leave form LOL had to dial 00 350 etc i guess only a kiwi could tell the difference between a Skyhook and a mirage.
China was a different Gig, all private. China has just opened the door a bit and every man and his dog was getting into the joint venture thing. i was with a joint venture between Fletcher steel and china minerals and metals ( minmetals) there was a lot of cash about, payroll was in cash, tax were paid in cash and there was the slush fund, Theft was out of control, just a joke of a place. being followed everywhere every other day, hotel room got tossed regularly. one time i left my room got into the elevator held the doors for a mint then went back to my room got them in the act. nothing was ever stolen. LOL not like russia, english russian dictionaries and condoms never lasted long.
on the other hand the chinese were very good to me, pick up a bit of the local lingo. respect their ways of doing things and try to fit in rather than be the big white western know it all and things can be quite comfortable. (That is absolutely the best advice I could give anyone.)
on the other side, there was the cash going to government and various different so called committee members etc. its hard to explain the structure is just so different. they are used to the company clothing and housing IE the company owned the apartments the school and the hospital. (This approach is not dissimilar in effect to what the company I am working for in Ghana has to do via the Union Enterprise Agreement.) when there were some employees that needed some where to live, the director just sad OK guys build a place over there. the company supplied the materials, the government suppyed the engineers etc and the factory supplied the labour. so they built there own apartment blocks. the transition to the factory being sold to non chinese who had no understanding of this and only thought in terms of the factory alone and not of the encompassing community and infrastructure(Deliberate...or a lack of appreciation?). as well as the chinese on the street expected the company to provide etc and couldn't comprehend that it was not there responsibility any more, worse no one actually knows who was to take responsibility. ADD to that with some investment and western practices, large numbers of workers were made redundant, unfortunately they could not comprehend what had happened or what to do. result a lot of bored men with no money no job no prospects hanging around on the streets looking for any opportunity. but it got worse, 1 employee was now having to support and extended family. inflation was out of control. so the first thing you had to do was make your mark. then keep your nose out of other peoples business. basically each block had is Gang and its leader, you ether paid or you didn't, I didn't and i didn't bang heads with then ether. Interesting time enjoyed it really. that was first trip early 90s. second trip was Totally different, i was involved in hospitals and hygiene, infection control ISO etc and the place had changed so much as well.
one story, standing on a bus, i felt some thing behind my but, tuned around a cought a young ***** with a razor trying to cut the bottom out of my back pocket, i grabbed him and everyone on the buss started yelling etc. Driver stopped buss, the locals grab this guy, drag him off the buss and start slapping him around. it embarrassed the chinese hence the reaction. he got 20 years for that.
left the apartment early for a run, leave the foyer hit the street and i see some thing Black on the foot path, it got my attention so i had a bit of a gander, the black was the flys, thay took off leaving a new born baby. cop told me it was a girl, unwanted it would have just been tossed out of the appartment window as soon as it was born.
i was in one district, only time i saw this, all the kids had slits in the back of there pants, so they could just squat and **** where ever. Had a mate over there, a pom english teacher, married local, all the anties came to visit one day with there kids, one kid squats and dumps in the middle of the living room, the kids mother goes off at it for not going in the hall way. Yes they did have a toilet.(LOL..different responses..in different places. Currently, in Ghana, you see the morning parade on the way to work each day...the morning ablutions being achieved in the long grass by the road. In the urban areas....'No Urinating' signs everywhere. In Afghanistan..a very much 'right handed' country it was a surprise to me to learn of what the poor locals used to actually wipe the area of concern...most places I'd ever been to would use...vegetation of some sort...Afghanistan, a high altitude desert....smooth river rocks...there was a contractor pumping the Port-a-loos on base, always running into problems sucking up rocks!
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks