Slashdot Mirror
Chinese Companies Rent White Foreigners
The job market may look bad here, but if you're in China, and you happen to be white, all you need is a suit and tie. An increasing number of Chinese companies are willing to pay any price to have a few fair-skinned faux employees walking around. From the article: "'Face, we say in China, is more important than life itself,' said Zhang Haihua, author of Think Like Chinese. 'Because Western countries are so developed, people think they are more well off, so people think that if a company can hire foreigners, it must have a lot of money and have very important connections overseas. So when they really want to impress someone, they may roll out a foreigner.' Or rent one."
I've always been more of a "ESSE QVAM VIDERE" fan myself. ("To be, rather than to seem.") State motto of North Carolina. Guess Ah'm just a sample countreh boy aht heart aftah all.
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
So you know nothing, you do nothing, but people just pay you to hang around.
Sounds like a booth babe to me.
Now it's open to men!
Something a little similar occurs in Korea. The biggest employers of foreigners in Korea are the US military and language schooling, whether at public or private institutions. Now, the fun thing is, schools much, much prefer white teachers, because there's a perception here that white face means English speaker. Someone with an Asian face, on the other hand... maybe the school is trying to pull something.
I got turned down for a few job applications for no real reason, and I'm pretty sure it had something to do with my skin tone.
I had a couple of friends go live in China for a couple of years. She was teaching english, he did that but also picked up some other "jobs", one of which involved, as far as he could tell, being shipped around to various places in China, dressed up in a suit, and having drinks poured down his throat until he couldn't walk anymore. Near as he could figure, he was supposed to be playing the role of the representative of a foreign company which was working with the Chinese outfit which had hired him, since that would make them look good to possible business partners. Sounds like a pretty surreal situation.
I lived in China for a few years, and had two of these gigs. Once, I had to pretend I was someone from the midwest interested in investing in a chemical factory somewhere. It got very surreal, because once the conference started, even the people who hired me seemed to forget that I was just playing a role...the extent of the communal illusion was mindboggling. In another one, I had to pretend I was the coworker of some guy who knocked up a Chinese woman, representing him at they're own wedding that he couldn't attend for "business reasons".
This is nothing new.
About 10 years ago I interviewed with a few companies in Taiwan. There were several who pretty much wanted to hire me as the token foreigner. One or two of them thought I might bring new ideas to the table, but I'm sure their corporate culture would pretty much squash any new ideas. One company in particular was more direct about what they wanted. They wanted to convey a more international image to make themselves more appealing to investors.
A lot of companies in Asia have this obsession with passing themselves off as an international corporation. Every two-bit company has the word "international" in their name. Their English name, because the vast majority of companies in Taiwan and China have an English and Chinese name. I guess it's aspirational in some ways. It's not simply that they want to impress, it's the belief that doing these things will lead to the perception turning into reality and I think some of it is linked to how Japanese companies became successful. It's like they think success will just happen without looking at the fundamentals.
In hindsight maybe I should have taken that job. I probably would have done little to no work and there were a bunch of cute girls working there.
I might be the only person here who's actually done this, so I can attest to the fact that a) it does happen b) quite frequently and c) it was a lot of fun. I live in Shanghai as a teacher but was rented for a weekend-long product presentation as up-and-coming American architect (with vast Italian-architecture experience). They pre-wrote the speech and created the ppt in first person so it seemed real, and the draw for this was incredible. Face is extremely important to the Chinese -- "perception is reality" is a ground-rule for living here. But with flexible-enough morals, free meals, a private driver, pre-arranged tours, my own 5-star hotel suite and pay is a pretty great deal for what was only about 2 hours work!
Normally I wouldnt comment on this but as I did this TODAY ill chime in..
I live and work in Beijing and these sort of opportunities come up through the grapevine fairly often - and as weird of a position that it is it somehow makes sense out here. You really have to realize how important 'face' is in China - especially when doing business.
The article is kind of dumb (and of course had been passed around the foreigner community last week to great laughs) but it isnt wrong per se. Having a 'laowai' ('old foreigner') around is good for your social standing. Today I had a client ask to take me out to dinner - which is abnormal - this guy never asks me out to dinner. When I pressed him on the reason he just said 'To introduce you to some friends.' When I arrived tonight I figured it out instantly: I was there to be the token white guy and to give this guy face. To his clients he just became that much more worldly and respectable because he keeps foreigner friends - this man obviously has some connections.
It seems odd and racist (which it is - dont get me wrong) but in a country that probably doesnt even have a word for 'multiculturalism' it works. So tonight I was 'token white friend', I made a couple of good contacts myself, I gave my boss face, and was treated to an amazing dinner where I was marvelled at for my ability to use chopsticks, speak Chinese, and drink 'Chinese white wine.'
Why the hell not? Someone has to make this country open to the outside world and different cultures - daily im doing my part. And for all the times I get harassed for being white I might as well get paid and treated for it on occasion as well.
Sorry is this is just an incoherent rant - but the aforementioned white wine is well on top of me at this point.
---- The real Slashdot is still here. You just have to browse at -1 to read the comments.
are actors. I thought white boys knew this.
In soviet Russia, God creates you!
I spent 2 years in China working for a software outsourcing company. Although there were a handful of other Americans at the company, I was the only one that wasn't of Asian descent. It was funny, really -- any time important people toured the company, they'd always stop by my desk to introduce me, even though I wasn't any sort of important role. Just being the "token white guy" got me a decent amount of attention. It was quite odd.
In general, though, being "white" in China still has privileges. I was in one of the most modern cities in China (Shenzhen, near where all your iPods are made) Just a friendly smile would set young women in hysterical giggles. Random people at the bus stop would ask me if I would be their friend. The banks would let me skip the line and go to the VIP counter. My Asian-American friends, on the other hand, didn't get nearly the special treatment. While people would compliment my horrible butchering of the Chinese language, people would ask them why they couldn't speak better. Sadly, I guess that means that racism is still thriving in some parts of the world....
Western businessmen don't employ certain races to make themselves look multicultural. That's what stock photos in the Annual Report are for. And they don't use people from any particular continent to give the illusion of success, but that doesn't mean they don't do it. A Mercedes Benz with driver here, conspicuous use of the Amex Centurion Card there, and soon enough your Mister Big Shot to your prospective clients.
Everything counts in large amounts. It seems that some businessmen are easily impressed by a backpacker in a new suit and a fresh haircut.
Shiny. Let's be bad guys...