The Ugly Chinaman?

The Ugly Chinaman?

There's so much showmanship between 2 world powers now, that we are sometimes forced to "choose" sides. But that doesn't mean that we agree fully with the chosen side's arguments. Here's an example. There's a book written about "The Ugly Chinaman".

I read this book in my late 20's, and re-read it recently. I highly recommend this title to people who want to really understand the Chinese personality even if they are from China, or even of Chinese origin. Pardon me but I'll borrow (afterall, didn’t someone say copying was the best form of flattery?) some words from another narrative on the book and here goes.

Judging by the cover, it looks like the book is an attack on Chinese culture. But when read in full, it’s not that way at all. The writer, Bo Yang (many times jailed by Taiwan, died in 2008) deeply understood why the majority of China's people (and those of Chinese origin) behave the way they do - being influenced, moulded，and programmed by thousands of years of China's dynastic histories, a rigid unforgiving authoritarian government system, and psychological "isolation" from social and emotional interaction with the Western culture, until after 1857. The Boxer rebellion's dousing was an insult never forgotten.

Bo Yang was an exceptionally brave and honest man - a societal thinker way ahead of his time. The Chinese culture (even now) needs more people like him - people who tell it like it is, as opposed to wearing the proverbial "smart" Chinese mask and everyone else is a "devil". The latter attribute is what gives the West (and some here) the feeling that the Chinese are insidious and scheming....Trump is a great example of one who says that outright.

Because of my affinity to the people (I was married to a half-Chinese before, and a full one now), I've spent my life observing and studying how Chinese people think and act - not only based on my circle of family (half my family was/is Chinese) and friends, but from the political and cultural aspects in mainland China - I also lived there for almost a year from late 1994, in then a little village near Chengdu. I had a Chinese girlfriend (who spoke fluent English) who took me around the villages in southern China. 12 years later, while I was in the shipping business, 90% of my dealings were in/related to China and I spent many weeks there till 2011. The Chinese people are far from being inscrutable or egregious. They are a proud race and may not like being taught or usurped by "outsiders".

In all anecdotes, one has to tell a personal story to bring home the point:

One shipbuilder, was a very proud old "Chinaman", maybe in his late 70's, maybe even early 80’s. He was already a billionaire (this was in 2009) then. He was unbeaten in drinking Mao-tai's (a potent Chinese wine, maybe 2 - 3 times stronger than normal wines). There was a deal where my company couldn't agree on and it looked like it would collapse. So he invited me over to Tianjin, China for a final meeting but his officers (he couldn't speak English so he had the contracts translated) and mine, also couldn't agree. To make it easy to understand, my side wanted to trade an apple for one of his oranges. He was only willing to part with his orange for 2 of my apples. It was deadlocked. He invited me for dinner for a final negotiation. Of course, I knew, it was to throw down the gauntlet.

After dinner, he started by saying "I have 4 of my guys here. You have ONE man and yourself. Let me make you a deal. Each side will drink an equal amount and the party that collapses first, loses. You get your deal if you win. So it was 5:2 (meaning for every 2 shots his side drank, we had to drink 5 - his idea of "equal"). Mind you, this was 5 burly (oh, he came prepared….I didnt expect less) mainland Chinese vs 2 Indian Malaysians (my officer was one). Since a US$ 20 mil deal was on the table, I had to give it my best shot. Besides, I enjoy a tipple or two, to speak.

Within 3 hours or so, all 4 of his men and my guy, had all passed out. It was him vs me left at the stable. It was now to decide, who would be the proverbial last man standing. I could see clearly that he had not faced a "challenge" like this since he claimed the title, maybe 30 years ago. He was the champion Mao-tai drinker in town. It would be a MAJOR insult to lose - on home territory. At what must have been my 20th shot (or felt like that) and his 8th, I could see that he was about to crash. I had maybe another 2 shots before I too collapsed. This was a US$20 mil deal that I will win for the company, if he passed out before me. But I also knew what honour was all about in China (I had read the book).

So I told him I was going faint and asked if he could send me back to my hotel as I was in no condition to find my way back. (Oh, and also lug along my teammate who was totally passed out). I took one last shot and told him, he "won" and we clicked the tiny glasses. (I heard he too passed out as soon as I was "carried" out of the restaurant).

Next afternoon (of course we missed our morning flight because of the hangover), at about 4pm, he arranged for a car to send us to the airport (he booked the air-tickets too at his cost). The flight back, I was very sad as I had an opportunity to clinch the deal but blew it to save his "face". This was Sunday I think.

On Monday morning, my CFO came rushing into the room to say "Congrats boss, you did it. And Mr.X signed off for US$100 mil instead of cancelling the $ 20mil contract. “WTF” did you do there to make this deal 5 times larger?" Till today, he has NEVER called me to explain why he traded 5x more than we had asked for. And I could never explain to the Board the real reason either - they will not believe me anyway. But I KNOW why….The Ugly Chinaman?

The truth is indeed painful, which is the reason for the patently unflattering title of the book. I urge people to read it, especially in these times of “whose dick is longer”. It will open your minds to how our upbringing, leads us to perceive things in a parochial manner rather than judiciously. It was my reading of the book that prompted me to write a 2015 article publicly, on why Chinese succeed in Malaysia.

I hope it’s a mind opener for all who think along selfish or parochial lines.