Education
B5
Novenber 1 – 7, 2013
www.TheEpochTimes.com
Learn Chinese Idioms
半
More than 8
percent of US
college graduates
had a parent
accompany them
to a job interview,
according to an
Adecco survey.
Gen Y: Too Reliant on Their Parents?
The Epoch Times
Are millennials over-reliant? A 2012 survey of more
than 500 US college graduates found that 8 percent
of them had a parent accompany them to a job
interview, according to Wall Street Journal.
In Taiwan, millennials born between 1981 and 1991
are dubbed the “Strawberry Generation”, a metaphor bespeaking their tendency to bruise easily.
In China, the post-80s are dubbed “Generation
Y”. Experts believe that today’s young people are
self-centred, aren’t independent and don’t trust
people. Some researchers who study millennials
blame their overindulgent parents for mollycoddling them.
USA: Parents Accompany Children for Job Interviews
The survey by Adecco, a human resource (HR)
company, revealed that out of the 8 percent of
American college graduates who had their parents
accompany them for job interviews, 3 percent had
the parent sit in on the interview, according to the
Wall Street Journal.
According to Adecco’s analysis, this phenomenon
of parental dependence occurs among young people
born in the ‘80s and ‘90s—more popularly known
as the millennials. Even while studying abroad,
they will contact their parents at anytime over the
internet, email or mobile phone, seeking solutions.
This has made them unable to think independently.
Adecco added that, in recent years, parents often
call companies to discuss salary issues. Over the
phone, some parents even question the companies’
decision to not employ their children.
Hong Kong: Parents Accompany Undergrads to School
In 2012, the Economic Times reported that in
Hong Kong, parents accompany their undergraduate children to school.
Hong Kong University Dean Wei Yonggeng said
this phenomenon is caused by parents who mollycoddle their children excessively, affecting the
latter’s independence and ability to face problems.
Some young people are even totally dependent on
their parents for their daily sustenance.
According to a Taiwanese global services company, a company tried using high remuneration to
recruit staff. In the process of training these new
employees, the company discovered that younger
people were less determined and more adversarial
to stress than their older counterparts. Out of 30
new employees from 23 to 29 years old, only one
prevailed.
Taiwan: “Strawberry Generation”
In Taiwan, this group of people is dubbed “Strawberry Generation”. They are good to look at but can’t
be touched because they get easily injured.
A head of corporate HR revealed, “In the past, if
someone was willing to interview us, we’d be over
the moon. Now, when you call young people for an
interview, they expect the company to accommodate their schedule, or they reply, ‘I’ll wait and see’!”
China: Gen Y ‘Ambitious Visionaries’ Who Can’t Endure Hardship
Japan’s Nikkei Chinese Net recent report, ‘China’s
Gen Y in the Workplace’, described young people as
having vision and ambition —without the ability
to endure hardship.
China’s Gen Y are the well-educated post-80s
young people born under the one-child policy. The
post-80s are in the limelight because they have
entered the workplace and are the future of China’s
economic development.
However, China’s Gen Y have flummoxed many
companies with their unique thinking and lifestyle.
With foreign-funded enterprises at the centre,
companies are gradually starting to explore ways
to ignite the potential of China’s Gen Y.
Gen Y have expressed their refusal to be manipulated. Business leaders in China reveal that they
are baffled by Gen Y’s “emotions”. When Gen Y
employees get too emotional, they have to remind
them to look at the big picture.
To make matters worse, many young people are
very sensitive to and intolerant of criticism. As such,
managers have to know how to avoid friction with
their younger employees. They have to be patient
in helping Gen Y develop perseverance and guide
them to solve problems step-by-step, in order to lead
them to create value for their company.
As compared to the previous generation, Gen
Y dislike discipline, yet they need training in a
controlled environment. Instead of requiring Gen Y
to make many changes, companies should consider
changing their management approach.
For China-based companies as well as foreign
companies doing business with the Chinese, understanding the unique traits of China’s Gen Y, which
differ from European and America millennials,
will enable companies to explore and tap into their
potential.
Let Your Kids Grow Up
Is it good to accompany your child from school to
the workplace? According to HR agencies, employers won’t hire people who can’t even handle their
own affairs.
Gen Y’s dependence on their parents wasn’t
formed overnight. To ameliorate this problem,
parents must feel assured in giving their children
space to help them learn how to manage their own
lives. Even if they fail, let them get up on their own,
so that they can eventually spread their wings and
fly. As the proverb states, “Teach your child to fish
instead of fishing for him.”
How can you train your child to be independent?
Extracurricular activities shouldn’t be limited to
special interest classes that you have to pay a bomb
for. It’s also not necessary for your child to go on
overseas exchange trips to learn about team spirit
and expand his horizons.
Education scholars suggest letting children participate in school or community-based activities from
young, or let them help people in need through
volunteer organisations. Naturally, over the course
of your child’s interaction, debate and collaboration
with different people, he will become open-minded
and independent.
bàn
途
tú
而
ér
廢
fèi
Zhiching Chen/Epoch Times
“Spoiling the Half-Finished Cloth” is a story that
illustrates the idiom “Give Up Halfway” and how
important it is to see something through to the end.
Give Up Halfway
By Lilly Choo
the Epoch Times
The idiom 半途而廢 (bàn tú ér fèi), “give up halfway,” or leave
something unfinished, originates from “The Doctrine of the
Mean (1),” one of the four Confucian canonical scriptures.
As the story goes, during the Warring States period (475–221
B.C.), there was a man named Yue Yangzi who lived with his
wife in the state of Yue.
One day, Yue Yangzi saw a piece of gold on the road and picked
it up. He took it home and showed it to his wife.
His wife looked at the gold and said: “I hear that a man of
morality will not drink a thief’s water and a man of integrity
refuses to accept alms. What do you think about picking up
another’s loss and possessing it for one’s own?”
Hearing this, Yue felt ashamed and took it back to where
he had found it. Yue then decided to search for scholars and
enrich his knowledge. With support from his wife, Yue set off.
A year later, Yue suddenly returned home. His wife, who was
weaving silk cloth, knelt down to greet him and asked, in surprise: “You’ve only spent one year in study. Why are you back?”
Yue answered: “I came back home to see you because I missed
you very much.”
Without saying anything, his wife picked up a pair of scissors
and went to the loom where she had been working.
Pointing at the half-finished brocade, she said softly: “This
brocade is woven from the finest silk. I wove one strand after
another to produce it. Now if I cut it, all my previous work will
be wasted. It’s the same with your studies. You can acquire
knowledge only through diligence. Now, you’ve stopped halfway. Isn’t it the same as cutting the cloth on the loom?”
Yue was deeply moved by what she said. He left home again;
this time determined that he would not give up halfway
through his studies. Several years later, Yue became a very
learned man.
This idiom is used to refer to an action that stops in the middle of the process. It warns that all one’s efforts will be wasted
if one cannot see things through to the end.
Historical figures and traditional values behind Chinese cuisine
the Epoch Times
Stock Solutions/Photos.com
Already by the Spring and Autumn of Chinese history—
between 8 and 4 B.C.—the eating habits of the Chinese people
were deeply influenced by terminology and etiquette from
Confucianism.
Although Chinese food experts say that fried rice is a
specialty of Yangzhou, they don’t put an exact date as
to the beginnings of this dish’s origin.
K’ung Fu Tzu
In a classic book from the Confucian school, “Book of
Rites”, it is stated that: “During meals, wine and soup
should be placed to the right of the guests, while main
dishes should be placed to the left. Food should not be
eaten in one bite, but should be consumed in small portions and be well chewed before swallowing. In addition,
while consuming soup or food, there should be no noise
made. “
Confucius (K’ung Fu Tzu) also believed that ingredients
are affected by the way they are cut by the chef, while the
freshness of food affects the taste. Not fulfilling both is
considered an act of disrespect toward guests.
In China, such etiquette was recommended nearly two
thousand years earlier than in the West. Over time, as
cooking methods further developed, people also began
to pay attention to the taste of food.
It was scholars who redefined the kitchen into two main
categories: the mastery of fire control, and the ability
to mix and match different flavours. Even they, themselves participated in cooking and created many wonderful dishes.
Sun Simiao
Sun Simiao, a renowned and famous herbalist and doctor from the Great Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618 to 907), is recognised as the King of Medicine in Chinese medical history.
But aside from being a great physician, he also excelled
in the art of cooking.
One day he came to Chang’an—a city of ancient China
that is now known as Xi’an—and he had decided to eat
at a restaurant that sold cooked pig intestines. When the
dish was served, the smell of the intestines was too strong
to bear, let alone eat.
Sun Simiao thought for a moment, and took out a gourd
bottle with medicine that had herbs like Chinese pepper,
fennel, and cinnamon, and he told the restaurant owner
to cook the intestines with the herbs. What resulted was
a dish that was not oily or smelly, and in fact very pleasing to the palate.
The owner insisted Sun Simiao not be charged for the
food. In return for the owner’s kindness, on his next visit,
Sun Simiao gave the owner a gourd filled with the herbs.
After that, the restaurant became very successful, and
the townspeople offered their highest praises to the pig
intestines dish.
When asked the name of the dish, the owner was
stumped. He then spotted the gourd that was given to
him and replied without a second thought: “Gourd head.”
Later, he hung the gourd directly over the entrance to his
establishment. Over time, the dish increased in popularity and is now a famous Xi’an appetiser.