The Myth of Filial Piety

Today, the Asia Healthcare blog publish a guest post that I co-authored with the Ninie Wang, the founder of the elderly care company Pinetree Senior Care Services.  The article explores the changing nature of filial piety in China as the economic and family structures undergo sweeping changes.  It also examines the future of the elderly care industry.  I have reproduced parts of it below:

When speaking to friends abroad about the situation of China’s ageing population, they often talk about how Chinese senior citizens must be well taken care of given China’s traditional values of filial piety which emphasizes respect and care for one’s elders.  However, when one takes a careful look, this is not the case.  Many of the young think only of pursuing a comfortable lifestyle.  That their parents devoted so much in raising them as children does not register with them, and the youth tend to grow impatient as their parents become slower both mentally and physically.  Examples like Zhou Yang, the Chinese gold medalist in speed skating, who said that she hoped she could make her parents live more comfortably are increasingly rare in China today.  Society is encouraging people to both respect and take care of the elderly, but in reality people keep them at a distance.

This type of professional care designed especially for the elderly is in great demand in China.

Nursing homes have grown rapidly in China, yet the national capacity of less than 3 million beds only serves a small share of the potential demand of about 8 million.  With its significant capital requirement and unclear return on investment, government and private investors alike are reluctant to push for its development.

(For more on elderly population and status of nursing homes see: 国养老遇尴尬: 一床难求和养 老院空置现象并存, and 北 京市2008年老年人口信息和老龄事业发展状况报告 )

For example, to build a large nursing home with 1,000 beds, initial investment can already range from 30 to 150 million yuan.  Even with up to 10% initial investment and annual subsidy of 300 to 1200 yuan from the local government, nursing homes struggle to break even.  A national survey revealed rather low willingness to pay – urban seniors are willing to pay 710 yuan per month for living at a nursing home, while rural ones only 121 yuan per month.  In addition, challenges such as attracting and retaining professional care staff, managing risk and even meeting safety standards are issues of great concern for many veteran managers of nursing homes.

Some people prefer to hire companies that send nannies or care-workers.  Unlike in the US or many other developed countries, these groups in China often lack a basic education, and are assigned into customers’ homes with a limited number of hours’ training (if any).  Although many of them can do a good job at house-keeping and/or cooking, few are equipped with elderly care knowledge.

Increasingly, community hospitals are extending their medical services to homes in their neighborhoods.  What prevent them from providing nursing services are the lack of nurses and the unwillingness to manage the low-margin troublesome service model.  The doctor/nurse ratio in China today reflects the hospitals’ emphasis on revenues and profit, with less than one nurse per doctor.

There is a need for an alternative service.  Pinetree’s professional home care has the potential to be the most cutting-edge solution to the care needs of millions of families with seniors.  Focusing on delivering nurse visits to seniors living near each of its local service units, Pinetree’s asset-light business model with a strong emphasis on quality control and personnel development has started bringing hope to many. If there was any way to re-promote traditional filial piety in the modern China context, Pinetree can actually help make a difference.

China is now struggling with how to deal with the often competing forces of modernity and tradition.  Arguably, China has stronger social structures than other countries to encourage elderly support, but these are under great pressure.  The relocation of career opportunities and urban sprawl have spread families across the country and have raised new questions and challenges.  China will be looking to more developed nations as examples.  Systems like America’s where there exist nursing homes, elderly communities, Social Security, Medicaid that all enhance family support will be models that China will emulate and adapt.

China’s development of elderly care will undoubtedly be based upon in-home care.  In addition to the overwhelming percentage of elderly who prefer to be in their own home rather than a nursing home, the government has already begun to dedicate its attention and resources to developing this industry.

The benefits to an individual’s physical and psychological health when ageing in the home are clear. Economically, in-home care is less of a financial burden as living full time in a hospital or nursing home.  This is a field that other countries are increasingly emphasizing, whether one is making decisions such as how to reform a nation’s healthcare system or how to care for one’s own ageing parents.  In time, it is quite feasible that China may in turn be the model that other countries study.

Today, we are faced with questions such as: has the myth of filial piety already become a burden for China?  What type of treatment can we expect in our own old age?   Confronted with the shattered myth of filial piety and the dissolution of family support structures, all societies must now decide whether they are content to let these values dissolve into nothing or whether they are able to rebuild the social and medical infrastructure to allow the elderly to enjoy the comfort and dignity they deserve.

For those interested in learning more about this field, please refer to Ninie's blog (in Chinese).

Sino Japanese Relations

Recently I attended a conference organized in part by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on a project entitled the National New Talent Plan: Job Skills and Japanese Language Project (Quan Guo Shuang Ren Cai Ji Hua Zhi Ye Ji Neng Ri Yu Xiang Mu).  The organizers invited members of the government (mostly the NDRC), Chinese universities, Chinese education associations, as well as various members of the Japanese government and industry. 
(There is a link to the general program here, but the link to the Japanese language program leads back to the main page.)

The program aims at addressing the paradox where university students are unable to find jobs and Japanese firms are unable to find suitable workers in China.  It is divided into three stages.  Students will attend classes to improve their general Japanese language skills, then take courses in industry specific Japanese, followed by an internship period in a Japanese firm. 

The potential here is significant.  Japan and China are well suited to cooperate with one another.  Linguistically, there are many similarities between the two languages (see Wikipedia).  Chinese people are arguably the people most suited to learn Japanese (this argument could also apply to Japanese studying Chinese).  Japan imported a significant amount of Chinese culture during the Tang dynasty, including Chinese characters, many of which are still used today in verb stems, nouns and names.  The other kana (hiragana and katakana), while different, were derived from Chinese characters. 

In addition, Japan and China's demographic needs can both be addressed by one another.  There are severe population pressures in China.  As controversial as they are, policies such as the One Child Policy and Hukou Registration System were devised and implemented for the very reason that there are not enough resources to be distributed to this massive population.  According to statistics supplied by NDRC officials, the number of university graduates grew from over 1 million in 2000 to an estimated 7 million in 2010.  At the same time, job creation remained generally static during this period.  Japan is experience a very different situation. It has an aging and declining population, making it difficult for companies to find workers.  In addition, give the highly advanced nature of Japan's economy, they also will need a source of blue collar workers to do the jobs that Japanese graduates are not willing to do.  China has an excess source of this type of labor as well.  Japan also faces a similar situation as the United States, in that high costs of manufacturing domestically are forcing Japanese manufacturers to go abroad (often China) for production.  

Human resources is, however, a serious hurdle in China.  Often I have heard entrepreneurs report that it is not hard to find educated, intelligent Chinese graduates, but to find people who are hard working, creative and driven is a challenge (see, for example, the Happy Farm phenomenon, in addition I have also previously discussed the situation in Chinese universities here).  This problem is also serious at the managerial level.  When I met Jim McGregor, author of One Billion Customers, he told me never to trust people over 40 in China.  They lived in a completely different time, and are usually typified by the two personality extremes of either being so bureaucratically minded that nothing gets done, or with such a cut-throat entrepreneurial instinct that you are afraid that they will take your money, burn down your factory and set up a competing business.  This is obviously a bit of an extreme statement, but it is a lesson he certainly learned the hard way. 

(For a more in depth discussion about HR in China, refer to the podcast by Amcham China)

Other obstacles include history and nationalism.  The history between China and Japan is emotional and complicated.  Many Chinese can paint a dark picture of Japan's involvement in World War II  (primarily its invasion of China), and specifically instances such as the Nanjing Massacre.  I have seen Chinese smirk and make faces when I mentioned that I had studied Japanese prior to coming to China.  I have also overheard hostile remarks made by Chinese when I mentioned that Japanese students were studying abroad with me in China.  Obviously, not all Chinese feel this way or will make these comments, but there is enough hostility to keep people such as a Japanese friend of mine from attending the Olympics for fear of being Japanese caught in a period of heightened Chinese nationalism.  (For an example of this hostility, see a chinaSMACK translation of an online discussion of Hiroshima survivors, there is no shortage of comments with cheers of karma and payback.)

There is certainly great potential for cooperation between the two countries, but there are still significant issues the two countries need to deal with before they can truly take advantage of what could be a mutually beneficial relationship.

The Influence of English on Chinese

The Language Log has written another interesting post regarding the Chinese language, only this time it is about the influence (or invasion, depending on your perspective) of English on Chinese.  Interestingly, the arguments advocating for the purity of language free from foreign influence are usually heard in countries such as France and South Korea; rarely do I hear these ideas in China. 

In fact, foreign influence on Chinese language has a long historical precedence.  In the nineteenth century, China absorbed much of the vocabulary of modernity from Japan.  Japan took western concepts such as nation-state, economy, etc. and adapted them to their language.  China later absorbed these recycled terms into its own language (similarities between Chinese characters and Japanese kanji facilitated this exchange, see Wikipedia for more detail).

Linguistically speaking, the foreign influence on Chinese is multifaceted.  Chinese have different ways of adapted English vocabulary to Chinese script.  (In fact, Carleton college professor Mark Hansell is one of the most well known scholars on this area.)  This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but I thought I would go over some major ones, as well as ones not covered in linguistics textbooks. 

Direct transfer:
In popular culture, there are terms that are used directly from English

Out: out of fashion
Ex: Ge, ni out le
Translation: Man, you're out/out of fashion

High: crazy, intoxicated, often used in the context of having fun (partying, drinking, karaoke), and not necessarily in reference to drugs
Ex: Ni men wan'er de hen high
Translation: You guys were really crazy/partied hard

Fashion: fashionable, often used in humorous contexts, emphasis is given when spoken in highly accented manner or with a heavy dialectal influence (in many southern dialects, the f is pronounced like h)
Ex: Ta hen fashion

Translation: He is very fashionable

PPT: power point presentation
It is interesting how technology has affected language. This has spawned a number of similar terms such as PS for Photoshop; the full English name is too difficult for many Chinese to say and this abbreviation is also much easier than translating the entire word into Chinese.

Acronyms/abbreviations:
The usage of acronyms has already emerged in internet forums to express slang and profanity.  These are abbreviations for Chinese terms, not English ones.  Examples include:
BT: bian tai (perverted)
MM: mei mei (sister/young woman)
LZ: lou zhu (originator of a post)
NB: niu bi (can mean arrogant/cocky, or confident, daring, impressive.  This, however, is a difficult term to translate. For more, see the explanation from Insideoutchina's post)
TMD: ta ma de (goddamn)

In formal Chinese, terms like GDP and WTO are often just expressed as the acronym, as the acronym itself is shorter than the full proper name, but when explained, Chinese is used. 

For a more comprehensive list, see blog chinaSMACK's glossary.

Direct translation:
For some English words, Chinese speakers translate the literal meaning of the word and use it as a replacement. 
re gou: hot dog (first character means hot, the second means dog)

Transliteration:
For other words, Chinese have chosen characters that sound like the original English
mai ke feng: microphone (however, there is also the synonym hua tong, which does not fit under this category)
han bao: hamburger
pai dui: party
fen si: fans (as in a fan of a movie star)

Of course, these are not all black and white.  There are a number of interesting mixes in both formal and slang Chinese.  Words such as yin te wang (internet) mix transliteration with the word wang, which means web/network.  Among slang terms, there are also compounds that mix one letter abbreviations with Chinese characters such as: niu B (see above), zhuang bility (where zhuang bi means to act cool/tough, adding -bility makes it a noun), and sha B (dumbass).

The Romanization of Chinese

The Language Log has recently written a post regarding Chinese (Mandarin) language and pinyin, the system of romanization meant to standardize the language's pronunciation. 

A few days ago, Cyndy Ning sent me this Website for learning pinyin pronunciation.  It has both female and male voices which you can activate by clicking on nánshēng 男声 and nüsheng 女声 just above the initials D, E, and F at the top of the table.  I also found similar tables here and here.
This is a neat tool, BUT, in playing around with it, I discovered that nearly all of the 4th tone -ANG syllables in the system come out sounding like -AN.  A similar phenomenon holds true for all other 4th tone syllables ending in -NG; that includes -ENG, -IANG, -ING, -IONG, and -ONG, -UANG.  This is especially the case with the male voice, where I have to strain very hard to hear even a semblance of a [ŋ] at the end, and sometimes I can't hear it at all.  Mind you, this is only on the 4th tone!  I can hear the final [ŋ] well enough on all of the other tones spoken by the male voice, and I can even hear it fairly well for 4th tone syllables when listening to the female voice.

One could respond in different ways to this.  Of course, as the author describes, female voices are generally higher in pitch than male voices.  The ending could simply be less audible in the male reader's voice.  Or, as the author surmises, there could be a physiological cum phonological transformation that manifests itself in a 'defective' way as described above.

However, when I read this I had a different reaction.  During my experience as an elementary Chinese language tutor at the undergraduate level (my Chinese friends get a kick out of this), often have I held the hands of native English speakers as they take their first steps into the world of Chinese pronunciation.  Most often, the first thing I told them about Chinese was that pinyin is a misleading system of romanization.  This tool, intended to simplify and standardize Chinese pronunciation, has been a source of endless confusion for my students. 

For example:
chu (out/exit) 
This is pronounced "choo" in English equivalent.
qu (v. to go)  
Looking at this word, one would assume that the consonant is pronounced differently than chu, while the vowel is pronounced the same.  Wrong.  The consonant is the same, and the vowel is different.  Based on the above explanation for chu, this should be pronounced "chü."

Also:
ju (mandarin orange)
nü (female)
In both of these, the vowel is pronounced the same (ü), yet they are written differently. 

Similarly confusing:
xiang (fragrant)
This is pronounced "shee-ahng."  (The a sounds like the a in "all")
xian (fresh)
Here the pronunciation of a changes.  It is pronounced "shee-en." (a makes an e sound, as in "echo")

Given this logic, the author of the post is technically incorrect in saying that the 4rth tone words ending in -ang sounds like -an.  This may be true if read in English, but it is not by the irregular rules of pinyin.  (The ending which should be [ŋ]  sounds like [n].)  Of course, this is not intended as a critique of the Language Log (for which I have nothing but the highest respect), but rather a cautionary tale and sympathetic critique of pinyin for current and future language students. 

Of course, I also agree with those who say that it doesn't matter.  In the context of a conversation, it is usually easily to discern that the speaker intends to pronounce -ng instead of -n, just like native English speakers would not be confused if one said "runnin" instead of "running."  Still, I wouldn't use it as teaching material. 

Sichuan Politics in the Post

The Washington Post had an interesting piece on Bo Xilai, senior Party member in the Chongqing municipal government, who traveled recently to Beijing for the National Party Congress.  Bo was key in the recent corruption crackdown both in the government and in the business community.   The Post's authors are skeptical that this official will be able to rise to the top rank of Premier, but maintain that he is a top candidate for a position in the influential standing committee.  The article also goes into his life and background, and describes the government's preparation for the 2012 exchange of power.  Some interesting quotes from the article:

In the three years he has served as the top Communist Party official in Chongqing, the country's largest municipality, Bo has shaken up Chinese politics by becoming a wildly popular politician in a country where politicians in the Western sense are frowned upon.

"Bo Xilai is a selfless person and a fearless one. In these times, we need government officials like Bo . . . He chases justice for ordinary people," said Li Lei, a 48-year-old entrepreneur. Li created the video tribute after reading about Bo's crackdown on Chongqing's mafia, a crusade that not only targeted corrupt businessmen but -- in a departure from previous efforts -- the senior-level government officials who colluded with them.

The more interesting discussions are happening behind the scenes, because this year's people's congress is the unofficial start of mid-term jockeying for the 2012 Communist Party Congress where the next generation of leaders will take the reins from Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao.
...
At 60, Bo is too old and controversial to be regarded as a candidate to become premier. But Chinese scholars say he's likely to be named to the Communist Party's nine-member standing committee -- China's most powerful decision-making group.
...
His candidacy reflects how far China's Communist Party has evolved from its origins. Today the party's constituency is increasingly middle class and more concerned with things like business and finance than Marxist ideology.

For more information on the recent crackdown, see the blog Inside-Out China, written by Xujun Eberlein, which covers issues in China, and also issues in Sichuan politics and culture (due to the author's background and ties there). 

Life at a Chinese University

There is an interesting video that has emerged on Youku.com (described as the Chinese Youtube).  It is a creative piece crafted by students at the Shanghai Theatre Academy China.
I have translated the first few minutes below: 

What is university?
Messing around
Making trouble
Pursuing one's dreams
Losing faith
Finding quick success
Return empty handed

What is university?
To me, university is boring, uninteresting, clueless, dejected, helpless, and full of meaningless moaning and groaning with nothing to do. 

It's using our parents money to buy all sorts of useless things, all sorts of junk food, doing all sorts of things without achieving any result.
It's like Jiao Yulu, anxious, gloomy, and with nothing to do.  You choose a school, choose a major, choose a roommate, a bunk, a Japanese laptop, a second hand bike, choose two delivery [restaurant] numbers, posters for movies you've never seen to be hung on your wall, choose a sport, coffee, soda, gum, cigarettes, a lighter, beer, USB, MP3, a mobile phone, and choose a few friends to choose with.

The story goes on to discuss four students' views on university as they near graduation.  Their comments indicate that many in the group spent their four years as undergraduate students playing video games, smoking, drinking and simply hanging out.  The one in the group who was seen as a model student ends the same as the others: frustrated and without a job. 

Obviously, this is a caricature of university life, but how accurate is it?  Anecdotal evidence suggests that is it not far from the truth.  Sleeping or skipping class is prevalent.  Many play sports and drink, only cramming the day before exams.  Dorm life is dominated by online gaming and chatting.  For most, it is a welcomed break from the rigors of their high school education. 

Some attribute this to the education style.  Chinese tertiary education is primarily lecture based.  Relative to what one might find in an American college campus, Chinese students are fairly passive in the course of their education.  However, I would also point to the policy of expanded admissions (kuo zhao) in China.  In order to limit the massive number of graduates emerging into the work force, undergraduate and graduate programs have expanded the number of students admitted every year. 

The problem for universities is that they do not have the resources to support such a growing student body.  With fewer resources and attention paid to individual students, the quality of education suffers.  This has led to stories circulating about graduate classes larger than undergraduate classes, as well as blatant attempts at plagiarism (i.e. when a PhD candidate copied another dissertation, changing only the writer's name and location). 

This video is simply one expression of it. 

Does a New Look Mean a New Form of Journalism?

The Wall Street Journal reports that after decades, the People's Daily English version has a new format intended to create a "cosmopolitan and sophisticated look."  The paper's new image is part of a larger effort to push Chinese media onto the international stage as a credible news source and source of insight into Chinese society. 

For many in the west, this is a laughable effort.  Chinese official media sources are often seen as tools of propaganda, or simply as the voice of the Party.  This opinion is not baseless, but I would challenge one to take a more nuanced look at information access in China.  Although the official statements supporting internet controls state that they are in place to guard against the western monopoly of electronic information, the truth is English language material is viewed as much less controversial than Chinese language material (see also the AmCham China interview with Jeremy Goldkorn from Danwei.org).  For example, the English versions of sites such as the BBC are open while the Chinese language versions are not.  Thus there is reason to believe that something like the People's Daily English version intended for an international audience would be, at the least, quite different than its domestic counterpart. 

One reason to believe this comes from another WSJ article that points out an interesting article from the Global Times (published by the People's Daily) discussing the situation concerning online censorship.  For such a sensitive and contentious topic for officials here, this is a surprisingly candid piece of journalism from an official news source. The piece openly discusses some of the common perceptions of information controls: the absence of clear rules, the arbitrary closing of sites/deletion of information, the prevalence of self-censorship, and a lack of a body through which to appeal decisions. 

Of course, this is not to say that Chinese official media sources will become reputable sources of independent and unbiased news.  After all, even though English content is slightly less scrutinized, national media bodies are still nationally controlled; this article could just be an anomaly.  However, given the efforts to change and update Chinese official media sources, it is certain that we will be seeing a very different People's Daily soon.