Undead Astronauts

So I havent posted in a while. The last few weeks have been very busy for me. I’m switching jobs, out of this Chinese law firm into a British risk management company. The nature of the new work seems very interesting, its call business intelligence and investigations. Essentially what that means is that they look into a company to see whether or not they are doing bad things. The bad things may include fraud, bribery, forgeries, falsifying documents, nepotisim, stealing company assests, etc. The clients the company would serve would usually be foriegn companies who wish to do business in China. They might not trust their Chinese business partners, or their suppliers, or even their own China branch managers and employees. The methods the company uses to investigate may include conducting interviews with relevant parties, doing audits on their documents, going through their emails, chat logs, other communications, visiting their facilities. Sometimes the client would be a country government who believes that the company has violated some kind of anti-corruption or anti-bribery law. The biggest example would be the US Foriegn Corruption Practice Act (FCPA). Last year the FCPA fined Siemens over 1 billion dollars. Apparently siemens had an elaborate system set up to bribe foriegn official. When they were discovered, Siemens cooperated to disclose all their actions, the discolsure along costed another 1.5 billion in attorney and consulting fees, all absrobed by Siemens. Apparently even though Siemens is a German company, the fact that their corruption scheme at one point funded some money in USD through a US bank, it was enough to give the US jurisdiction over the matter.  So basically a lot of international firms are now worried because its very easy to fall under the big umbrella of the FCPA. And as China is filled with corruption, the business has a lot of potential here.

That being said, I have been trying to negotiate the contract with the new place while keeping it a secret from my current firm. Sometimes it gets awkward because I always have to sneak out during the middle of the day to meet my headhunter or attend a meeting with managers from the risk management firm. But the final signing should be this Friday. And from there I will inform my current firm next week. That will be a giant mess as well.

“There has been much hand-wringing over the dangers of medical residents’ grueling schedules. Doctors-in-training often forgo sleep entirely, racking up as many as 30 work hours in a single stretch.”

Full article: Are residents overworked?

While there seems to be no easy solution or answer to the continuous hours that medical residents are on call, there still needs to be taken to consideration what life after residency is like.

Hours have been reduced to 80/week, and 30/shift; which I believe to  be agreeable. However, if plans to further reduce hours to is put into place, the rules will have unforeseen effects that could possible ripple through the entire health system. It could result in residencies taking longer to complete; 3 years coming 4, 4 becoming 5….which would result in a gap in graduating residents. And true, it is most likely that a person on hour 20 is less efficient than they were on hour 2. But life after residency, as a full fledged licensed physician, has hours that are also painstakingly long, without the controversy.

Will less hours cause less mistakes/less cost? Maybe..Maybe not.

No easy solution.

What you think?

After being here for 3 weeks, I am beginning to understand some of the finer points of working for a local Chinese firm.

Authority and status is very important here. Its always crucial to know your place in the firm. For instance, every attorney here is referred to by their last name and the attorney title (Chen “lv shi”, Li “lv shi”, etc). Unfortunately for the accountant, she is simply referred to directly as ”kuai ji”, or “accountant”. Her name isn’t even mentioned, but she doesn’t seem to mind. The cleaning lady is referred to as “ah yi”, which means something like auntie. I have tried to ask everyone to simply call me by my first name instead of the full ”lv shi” title, but i now feel that in doing so, I may have reduced my status and authority in this firm from attorney to perhaps an assistant or intern. 

Of course this all makes sense. The US is founded on individualism, and we like to be distinguished by our person rather than our current placement in life.  We don’t like generalizations because we find them limiting. But China is a place of structure and tradition, and understanding your place in that structure allows everyone to save face, lest you tread upon the toes of a superior.

So the logical way to think about working in China should be to 1) know your place then 2) do your job.

Of course situations occur when doing your job may require you to abandon your station; such as when you are proposing certain changes to the current business model or concept. Well tread lightly when you do so. While in your mind you are only thinking about improving the company, your superiors may perceive it as an effort to undermine their authority by uprooting the work they have done. Chinese employers are often extremely defensive and very slow to change due to this.

I have noticed that Chinese employers often allow a certain leeway to a foreign who looks distinctly un-Chinese. I believe in this case the Chinese employer feels that because the foreigner is not really a part of the Chinese social structure and therefore nonthreatening. In this case the Chinese employer might even manage to get to know the foreigner as an individual person rather than just another minion. Its all about expectations. If your boss expects you to be a part of the structure but you don’t adjust well, then you are going to struggle. If the boss doesn’t expect you to be a part of the structure, then you are suddenly free to fully utilize your own creativity.

Finally a night that where it seems the most, not everyone but most, are enjoying their humble abodes. At the least, not infiltrating the doors of my fortress. This is a greatly appreciated detour from the previous nights.

This time has allowed a brief reflection of the journey to my current state. Four years of undergraduate schooling, of which good friends were made. The examination used for entry into the next level was barely sufficient, but allowed me to stumble into the next stage. Slipping through the cracks and into medical school, nothing could have prepared for the hardships of attempting to drink from the fountain of knowledge. Only to discover the fountain was akin to an open fire hydrant, spewing information relentlessly and mightily, unwary of what was in its way. The assessment they call Step 1 was completed. Some comrades were left behind, myself almost victim. By the grace of few, I was permitted to resume my journey. Again, along this journey, another assessment, Step 2. This was a hurdle that I tripped upon many a time, but conquered. Finally scrapping through into the next trial…Residency. Now, once again, another evaluation they call Step 3. Again, I have stumbled, and again I must focus for this is key in completion of my journey, although not the last assessment.

Many have chosen this journey. There are many paths, but one entity is shared-The voyage is long. For such an extended expedition, one must, on occasion, be able to take a breath, relax, and cherish the moment. Thinking of the plight that awaits, sitting tired in an uncomfortable chair, in a room with a peculiar aroma, in a building full of illness, I am…appreciative.