Recently I saw this viral video on the Internet about a Chinese consumer displaying less-than-pleasant behaviour toward a sales assistant in a store.
Here’s the video:
If that doesn’t work for you, here’s the URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXppBMjSBu4
For the benefit of those non-Mandarin speaking, the woman was basically shouting:
“You think I have no money?”
Throws cash.
“So what is this?”
After watching the video, I was quite repulsed…
It was easy to just throw judgement and be all critical against the Chinese nationals.
In fact, in my experience… They don’t seem entirely welcomed. 
While I was in Hong Kong, waitresses were chronically rude to me when I spoke Mandarin. I just don’t speak Cantonese… 😥 I didn’t want them to get my order wrong! However when my dear boyfriend who has a non-existent level of Mandarin spoke, they were all nice to him.
Maybe they were actually flirting… Hmm!! No lah.
Even in Japan, while in a tourist shop there were groups of them everywhere! Seriously. It’s like an infestation sometimes. And I understand a little bit of Japanese, the shop assistants would be annoyed at how loudly they spoke (yelled/bellowed/screamed like the were talking to someone in a different country).
Heck, when I was in China… I saw them annoying each other somehow. Everyone wants to be first in the queue, no one wants to queue. Everyone wants to be heard, no one wants to quieten down.
Almost all the time I get annoyed at their lack of courtesy. I will very proudly say that just last week I purposely stepped on this man’s feet on the train. *diabolical grin* It was rush hour, he was standing right in front of the bloody door… Refusing to budge anywhere and was just yapping away on his mobile. So I got really annoyed… Was determined to get onboard and stepped on his foot hard, then walked inside.
He wasn’t happy. But honestly… I’d rather piss an inconsiderate person off, than to accommodate to his inconsiderateness.
Okay so anyway, back to my point…
A little background story on China’s wealthy population:
China is currently the country with the 2nd most number of millionaires, and this happened almost too quickly. Being so, their people were given money before they learned how to handle that sort of wealth.
Y’see, the possession of money does not come along with a manual on how to behave with it.
But it’s much like a new toy to them. They’re happy about it, they buy shitloads of stuff and post them up on the Internet which is perceived as ‘showing off’. However lets not forget the Chinese culture of 面子 (face) – it’s inbred to be super important to a person and therefore one should seize any opportunity to gain ‘face’.
That being said – China has a massive population. So even though they have many, many millionaires; they have even more poor folk. The income gap in the country is one of the largest in the world today, and the gap shows no sign of closing up in the foreseeable future.
The gap is really enormous. From rich people not knowing what to do with their money that they buy 2 iWatches for their pet dog… -_- I found that disturbingly lame; to the poor living on with US$1 a week.
However deep down, some of them are still with their own ‘kampong’ mindset. I might sound like a bitch saying this – but really… Money can buy you classy things, but it can’t buy you class.
Being the optimistic thing I am, I’d like to think of this as China’s teething phase as they get richer.
Generation 1 enters a booming economy where they get super rich, but aren’t aware on how to act with money. Which therefore spreads down to Generation 2, which enjoys the luxuries of wealth without seeing at all how the money is earned + not taught by their parents on how to behave with money, because their parents don’t know what to teach anyway.
Not forgetting that during that time, China had that one-child policy – which therefore also meant that parents would naturally pamper their one child even more with their riches.
And then Generation 2 gives birth to Generation 3, still without the knowledge of how to handle and behave with monetary wealth.
It’s a freaking vicious cycle!! Ugh.
However with more and more of them going overseas to study and travel, maybe this will broaden their mindsets. Maybe with viewing the world, they will be able to realise just how small they really are – no matter how much money they have.
And maybe this way – they will learn how to behave well. You’ll notice that in some online channels, other Chinese Nationals also get embarrassed by the acts of their fellow countrymen.
So I’d say that things are looking up! 😀
Many people say I’m being delusional, but meh… Why think so badly of people? Maybe they’re actually really nice inside, but a tad rough on the outside. 😉
XOXO,
G.
Gera Shen 