Confucian principles

Chinese culture is closely related to Confucianism. Confucian teachings advocate love within the family, rituals, etiquette, hard work and moderation. In the movie, love within the family can well be illustrated by Mr and Mrs Gao’s exceeding care of their son Wai Tung, the protagonist, in terms of his marriage. They are very keen to have a grandson as soon as possible, so much so that they placed Wai Tung’s name in the Singles Club, hoping that they can find an ideal girlfriend for him. This kind of care is very common among Chinese families, which represents parents’ love for their children. In American culture, however, it is hard to imagine that parents’ love of their children is expressed this way. American parents normally think that adult children have their own independent choice and they normally respect their own choices, just as Simon’s parents. As American culture is characterized by individualism, adults tend to think independently. They listen to their parents but they make decisions on their own. 
Chinese culture is also full of rituals and formalities under the influence of Confucianism. One case in point is the wedding ceremony in this movie which goes through many traditional procedures, for instance, a big wedding banquet where the bride and bride groom are required to perform a number of games to amuse people, new wedding room invasion, which means people present in the wedding ceremony come into the room at night where the bride and bridegroom live and play unimaginable tricks on the bride and bridegroom. In this movie, Wai Tung and his wife Wei Wei were commanded to creep into their quilt and then take off all their clothes inside before the people at the spot. 

Confucian teachings also underscore respect for authority, filial piety and that stability and harmony was based on an unequal relationship between people (Hofstede, 1991, cited in Williams, 1996). Some of these characteristics are also reflected in the movie, for instance, Wai Tung’s respect for and filial piety toward his parents. Though he is unwilling to find a girlfriend, he has conceded in allowing his name to be placed in the Singles Club. Later he devised a fake marriage, not for the sake of deceiving his parents, rather, he does not want to hurt their feelings and let them down by being “single”. One more example regarding respect for authority is Mr Chen, owner of the restaurant where the formal wedding ceremony was held. Mr Chen was a driver for Mr Gao when he was the military commander. Even if he met Mr Gao in his own restaurant, he dare not take a seat before Mr Gao. When the wedding ceremony was over, he stood in the corridor, just like a soldier to bid farewell to his commander. He was overwhelmed by unexpected favor when Mr Gao shook hands with him. The awe remains with him even if he was a soldier long time ago but now the owner of the restaurant.

Francesco and Gold (1998) discussed the Confucian work dynamism. They pointed out that in countries low in Confucian work dynamism, values are represented by respect for tradition and fulfilling social obligations. Mr. and Mrs. Gao are such instances in terms of their unremitting dream of having a grandson to pass down their family name. In Chinese culture, it has a wide recognition of the tradition of passing one’s family name down, which is particularly true among Chinese males. 

The concept of face

Concern for face probably appears in many cultures, but is seen as more salient for the Chinese than for people from other cultures (Williams, 1996). Face in Chinese culture refers to one’s moral character, a person’s reputation or prestige (Francesco & Gold, 1998).  It is the positive social value that a person claims for himself by the line others assume he has taken during a particular contact (Williams, 1996). The issue of face in the movie is typically represented by Mr. and Mrs Gao.  Having experienced the wedding ceremony organized by Wai Tung, Mr and Mrs Gao were extremely unhappy and Mrs. Gao even cried for the simplicity of the ceremony. To save the face of Mr and Mrs Gao, Mr Chen, the ex-driver of Mr Gao and the current owner of the restaurant volunteered to hold a new ceremony for Wai Tung as he announced to Wai Tung that the Commander (Wai Tung’s father) is very concerned about face. With a lavish wedding banquet, Mr and Mrs Gao became satisfied and delighted as their face was saved. When back in Taiwan, they can show the fabulous wedding photos to their friends and relatives and feel proud of their son.

Third culture construction

According to Holmes (2000), third culture building refers to the phenomenon in which individuals are exposed to a range of intercultural communications in a bi-cultural or multi-cultural context and they have therefore experienced reconstruction and renegotiation of their own beliefs, values and cultural practices, and eventually come up with a modified cultural identity. This situation is in compliance with the pluralist line in cross-cultural adaptation. The pluralist view of adaptation acknowledges the reality of ethnic individuals being assimilated into the dominant group, but at the same time, recognizes the continued structure of ethnic characteristics among ethnic individuals and groups (Kim, 2001).

In The Wedding Banquet, Wai Tung is a typical example who has experienced third culture building or pluralist role. He has constructed a third cultural realm where characteristics of both Chinese and American cultures reside side by side. On the one hand, he is seeking his true happiness by being a homosexual, which is totally unacceptable to Chinese culture, but on the other, he still maintains the Chinese value of respect for authority and filial piety. This triggers a severe conflict in his mind and brings him a colossal mental burden in his life. As Novinger (2001) contends that values can be an obstacle to intercultural communication as to respect another culture’s value can sometimes deny one’s own cultural value as a basis for judgment. To mitigate the pressure from his parents in regard to his marriage, Wai Tung eventually invented a fake marriage under the help of his homosexual partner Simon.

Impact on international business management

As Confucianism constitutes an important part of Chinese culture, it is important for the management to understand the Confucian principles if they are in an environment of working with Chinese employees. For instance, influenced by the moderation and harmony principles, Chinese employees do not like to challenge the authority or to express their different opinions openly. Redding and Casey (1976, cited in Williams, 1996) found Chinese employees’ reluctance to share information and aversion of participative systems of management.  Therefore, in order to seek suggestions or comments from Chinese staff, the management should use strategies to motivate them to speak out.

The concern for face is an important component in Chinese culture as an understanding of Chinese behavior in relationships is an understanding of face behavior (Francesco & Gold, 1998). To deal with Chinese staff, it is always a good idea to bear in mind this issue and to understand what generally causes the loss of face. Failure to handle the face concern appropriately will lead to the derailing of good intra- and inter-group relationships. For instance, with the loss of face, the loser will be offended and would not like to deal with the winner in the future (Francesco & Gold, 1998). This can therefore lead to group and organizational stress. Organizational stress will increase an organisation’s cost and job dissatisfaction, trigger worksite accidents, reduce profits and so on (Ivancevich & Matteson, 2003)

Third culture building is closely pertinent to almost every person or firm entering a new cultural environment. As cultural adjustment and adaptation could generate a realm where host and home cultures stand side by side, individuals or firms may face the dilemma of conflicting values or standards, hence resulting in a double standard practice. For example, it is known that the use of child labor is illegal in developed countries. Levi Strauss was well aware of it. However, Levi Strauss Bangladesh did employ children of 14 years of age (French & Granrose, 1995). Though it contended that many Bangladesh families relied on their children’s income, this conduct is debatable if perceived from the perspective of business ethics. 

References

Francesco, A.M. & Gold, B.A. (1998). International organizational behavior, (pp.1-87, 448-464). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

French, W. A., & Granrose, J. (1995). Practical Business Ethics.  New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Hofstede, G.H. (1991). Cultures and organisation: software of the mind. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Holmes, P. (2000). Working paper series – Strangers, sojourners, selves: understanding cultural identity change (a three part series), part 3: third culture building. Waikato: The University of Waikato.

Ivancevich, J.M. & Matteson, M.T. (2003). Chapter 7: Organizational stress: an individual view. INTBUS303 Cross-cultural management course book (2nd semester). Auckland: The University of Auckland.

Kim, Y.Y. (2001). Becoming intercultural: an integrative theory of communication and cross-cultural adaptation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Novinger, T. (2001). International communication – a practical guide, (pp.1-73). Austin: University of Texas Press.

Redding, S.G. & Casey, T.W. (1976). Managerial beliefs among Asian managers. In R.L.Taylor, M.J. O’Connell, R.A. Zawacki, & D.D. Warwick (Eds.), Proceedings of the academy of management 36th annual conference of the academy of management, pp.351-355.

Williams, G. & Bent, R. (1996). Developing expatriate managers for Southeast Asia. In D. Landis & R. Bhagat (Eds.), Handbook of international training (2nd Ed.), pp.383-399. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

The subject of integration particularly within the Bangladeshi community was first raised as an issue in 2002 when David Blunkett announced that Asian families who arrange marriages for their children should look within Britain and not overseas. This was a concern mainly for Asian women who would prefer to marry British born men who are educated. However some people within this community have perceived this claim to be an attempt to tighten the number of immigrants entering into the UK. Yet the problems of Asian families not integrating and preventing their children to integrate seem prominent within certain communities. The Bangladeshi and Pakistani community were mainly targeted concerning these issues, with 90% of them being Muslim. Within the heart of London, in ‘Bangla Town’ Spitalfield and Brick Lane, there is a noticeable division caused by the Bengali community. Brick Lane is an up market area, whereby many people can enjoy a vibrant and trendy social evening together. But the loud music from bars and the buzzing of people conflict with some of the Bengali residents in that area. For some of the elder generation such gatherings have been an unfamiliar concept. The bars that people visit serve alcohol to the public and are therefore prohibited in the Muslim. This in turn keeps the Bangladeshi community away from such places. The younger generation, on the other hand, may feel torn between the Western way of life and their parent’s traditional beliefs. A division of such sort is caused through lack of communication, understanding and feelings of alienation. That which is unfamiliar will be approached with reluctance and vulnerability, but in this case it is not approached causing separation and resentment.

Many of the Bengali people, whose native tongue is not English, feel very insecure with communicating with other people outside of their own community, especially those who have a strong language barrier. It is unfair to put blame in those who have travelled to the UK with very little education and no means of guidance. But it is also important to understand that some communities may feel a sense of paranoia and protection with keeping their children from integrating. The best solution is not to impose multiculturalism or integration within the communities but to raise awareness of the lack of integration, put fourth educational understanding of diversity and include communities, targeting mainly the communities that do not integrate, into national/international events that promote multiculturalism.  Most of all the present generation should be given the opportunity and freedom to choose their own identity. The Asian culture is one that is celebrated within the Western world and is evidently welcomed by the British people, which should encompass a more unified approach to integration. However the more this made obvious to the targeted Asian communities the more likely they are to integrate. But this is an issue which will take time to resolve and will continue to rise with newer objectives and approaches into improving integration.

With this common notion of men, it goes to say that a man’s barometer of virginity is the hymen. And one common misconception among men is that – if the woman’s hymen is already ruptured, she can no longer be considered virgin. Or, when a woman doesn’t experience slight bleeding during her first sexual intercourse, she’s no longer a virgin and that she already have had previous sexual experience(s).

I conducted a personal survey among the youth regarding the issue of virginity on marriage. There were 150 adolescent male-respondents. The question goes like this – “If on the first night of your wedding, you find out that your newly-wed wife is no longer virgin, what are you going to do?” Are you going to leave her or stay? Why and why not?” And here’s what the result says; 138 or 92% of the respondents said they will leave their wife because they’re expecting their wife is still a virgin. Only 12 or 8% said they will stay and said that hopefully they will learn to accept the situation and 2 of the 8% insisted to ask their respective wives who devirginize them.

Although there’s a rapid increase on the numbers of teen-agers engaging in sex and despite the liberal or westernized ways (e.g. clothes, music, foods, sexual preference, etc) of Filipino male adolescents, they still have a high regard on woman’s virginity in relation to marriage.

In fairness to women, men should take note that hymen is not the sole manifestation of their being virgin. Any woman is considered a virgin as long as she has not been engage in a sexual activity. Some women will not experience slight bleeding during their first sexual intercourse because their hymen might have been already ruptured due to some reasons. Causes of ruptured hymen may be brought about by accidents, biking, horse back-riding and other strenuous activities like gymnastics, karate-do and many others.