Kok Yong's Reflections
Indeed China wasn’t what we had thought of to be so backdated. During our 9 days of visit to the Pearl River Delta zone, we visited various industrial parks in the PRD Zone. We were all very amazed about the development of China Industry Park. They have some of the resources that Singapore does not have such as land. Their industrial areas are all at a very good location, with good accessibility to the airport, seaport and Hong Kong. Every cluster of their industry has diverse operation ranging from research & development to manufacturing & production to marketing. I was also very impresses with the working attitude of the Chinese, they were very hardworking, willing to learn and they are even capable of speaking English, Mandarin and Cantonese. The Chinese way and culture of doing business are very much different from Singapore – they speak mandarin and Cantonese frequently, they foster a lot on relationship and the pace of working there is very fast. Therefore I have learnt that working in China is not easy – one has to be able to speak mandarin or Cantonese, be willing to learn and sacrifice, must be determined and understanding the market and trend is also important. Indeed the 21st century is really the China world.
There are a few areas that I felt very unpleasant about China – the traffic there is very dangerous, there is no sense of direction at all. The toilet smell there is really unbearable and people there also don’t even flush after using the toilet – is very unhygienic. As for the food that we had was very oily and salty.
For our networking lunch and dinner, I feel very pleasure to be able to know and meet some of the successful entrepreneurs who were all also Singaporeans but have stayed and worked in China for years. This networking dinner and lunch also allowed me to learn how to exchange a business name-card which I have never done before. They shared with us their experience and knowledge of working in China, how they lead their life in China, and even encouraged us to work in China. We asked a lot of questions about the PRD industrial zone and they were all able to answer our queries which proved to be very useful to our project and also tend to deepen our knowledge of China. Their presence has really changed our perception of China. They even compared Singapore mindset with the Chinese there – Singaporeans are very cocky, calculative and not willing to take risks whereas the Chinese there they make fast decision and they are risk-takers. Through this networking, I have started to have a globalize mindset of working in overseas and moving beyond the comfort zone of working in Singapore. I also have a deep understanding of why some Singapore companies have switched their operations to venture in China.
I have never regretted signing up for this trip, it has really given me a real-life experience and exposure of doing business in China which I felt that I will never benefit from the -tutorials and lectures. Not only have I broadened my social-circle for this trip, I have also learnt to coordinate, communicate, lead and work in a team for my group as well as everybody as a whole. I have also learnt the importance of having a sense of urgency when doing business, we can’t afford to be late as we might give a bad impression and even lost a business deal. The Chinese’s worker there has given me a lot of inspiration. I hope through this trip, I will come back to be a more ambitious person and apply all the values that I have gained in China.
Indeed China wasn’t what we had thought of to be so backdated. During our 9 days of visit to the Pearl River Delta zone, we visited various industrial parks in the PRD Zone. We were all very amazed about the development of China Industry Park. They have some of the resources that Singapore does not have such as land. Their industrial areas are all at a very good location, with good accessibility to the airport, seaport and Hong Kong. Every cluster of their industry has diverse operation ranging from research & development to manufacturing & production to marketing. I was also very impresses with the working attitude of the Chinese, they were very hardworking, willing to learn and they are even capable of speaking English, Mandarin and Cantonese. The Chinese way and culture of doing business are very much different from Singapore – they speak mandarin and Cantonese frequently, they foster a lot on relationship and the pace of working there is very fast. Therefore I have learnt that working in China is not easy – one has to be able to speak mandarin or Cantonese, be willing to learn and sacrifice, must be determined and understanding the market and trend is also important. Indeed the 21st century is really the China world.
There are a few areas that I felt very unpleasant about China – the traffic there is very dangerous, there is no sense of direction at all. The toilet smell there is really unbearable and people there also don’t even flush after using the toilet – is very unhygienic. As for the food that we had was very oily and salty.
For our networking lunch and dinner, I feel very pleasure to be able to know and meet some of the successful entrepreneurs who were all also Singaporeans but have stayed and worked in China for years. This networking dinner and lunch also allowed me to learn how to exchange a business name-card which I have never done before. They shared with us their experience and knowledge of working in China, how they lead their life in China, and even encouraged us to work in China. We asked a lot of questions about the PRD industrial zone and they were all able to answer our queries which proved to be very useful to our project and also tend to deepen our knowledge of China. Their presence has really changed our perception of China. They even compared Singapore mindset with the Chinese there – Singaporeans are very cocky, calculative and not willing to take risks whereas the Chinese there they make fast decision and they are risk-takers. Through this networking, I have started to have a globalize mindset of working in overseas and moving beyond the comfort zone of working in Singapore. I also have a deep understanding of why some Singapore companies have switched their operations to venture in China.
I have never regretted signing up for this trip, it has really given me a real-life experience and exposure of doing business in China which I felt that I will never benefit from the -tutorials and lectures. Not only have I broadened my social-circle for this trip, I have also learnt to coordinate, communicate, lead and work in a team for my group as well as everybody as a whole. I have also learnt the importance of having a sense of urgency when doing business, we can’t afford to be late as we might give a bad impression and even lost a business deal. The Chinese’s worker there has given me a lot of inspiration. I hope through this trip, I will come back to be a more ambitious person and apply all the values that I have gained in China.
Neeky
11:51 PM
11:51 PM