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Showing posts with label Chinese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chinese. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Friday, October 24, 2008
The Ant & The Grasshopper - A Malaysian Parable
The Version You Know
The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer, building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool, and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed.
The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.
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The Malaysian Version
The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer, building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool, and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.
TV1, TV2 & TV3 show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
The majority of the Malaysian Parliament are stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this poor Grasshopper be allowed to suffer?
Khairy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.
Nazri goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.
The Malaysia Government immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the summer so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.
Hishammudin makes 'More Special Reservation' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services.
The Ant is fined for failing to share 30% of his food with the Grasshopper.
Prime Minister announces that this is part of the NEP. Every ant must not question it.
Many years later...
The Ant has migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar company there.
100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite the 'Special Reservation'.
Losing lots of hard working Ants and feeding the Grasshoppers, Malaysia is still a developing country.
All because the ANTS are just doing their work.
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Received by email
The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer, building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool, and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed.
The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.
------------
The Malaysian Version
The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer, building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool, and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.
TV1, TV2 & TV3 show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
The majority of the Malaysian Parliament are stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this poor Grasshopper be allowed to suffer?
Khairy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.
Nazri goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.
The Malaysia Government immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the summer so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.
Hishammudin makes 'More Special Reservation' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services.
The Ant is fined for failing to share 30% of his food with the Grasshopper.
Prime Minister announces that this is part of the NEP. Every ant must not question it.
Many years later...
The Ant has migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar company there.
100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite the 'Special Reservation'.
Losing lots of hard working Ants and feeding the Grasshoppers, Malaysia is still a developing country.
All because the ANTS are just doing their work.
----------
Received by email
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Non-Mandarin speakers lose out in job market
I refer to Nur Rashidah's letter "Non-Mandarin speakers lose out in job market?" in The New Paper on 26 Mar 2008.
I think it is important to distinguish between preference and necessity, and blind equality and common business sense. I believe that most companies that stipulate prospective interviewees to be proficient in Mandarin are doing it out of necessity and are exercising their business sense. Although English is taught as first language in schools, it is also common that many Singaporeans are more proficient in their mother tongue. Given that there are over 70% Chinese in Singapore, it is fair to assume that a fairly large number of these companies' customers or clients are more comfortable in speaking Mandarin. It would be remiss of them to ignore that telling statistic and not ensure that most of their staff are proficient in their customers' lingua franca.
It is true that this requirement does not "benefit" non-Mandarin-speaking job-seekers, and they probably are losing out. It may also be "unfair" to them, but until Singapore truly manages to make English its first language in reality rather than ideology, I'm afraid this is likely to perpetuate.
I think it is important to distinguish between preference and necessity, and blind equality and common business sense. I believe that most companies that stipulate prospective interviewees to be proficient in Mandarin are doing it out of necessity and are exercising their business sense. Although English is taught as first language in schools, it is also common that many Singaporeans are more proficient in their mother tongue. Given that there are over 70% Chinese in Singapore, it is fair to assume that a fairly large number of these companies' customers or clients are more comfortable in speaking Mandarin. It would be remiss of them to ignore that telling statistic and not ensure that most of their staff are proficient in their customers' lingua franca.
It is true that this requirement does not "benefit" non-Mandarin-speaking job-seekers, and they probably are losing out. It may also be "unfair" to them, but until Singapore truly manages to make English its first language in reality rather than ideology, I'm afraid this is likely to perpetuate.
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