Little emperors and nouveau riche

Last week, we discussed the widely held notion that the Chinese are extremely hard-working, used as they are to “eating bitterness and enduring labor.”

We sifted through historical evidence (it was predominantly Chinese labor that built the first US transcontinental railroad) and social commentary (from Mark Twain and Rudyard Kipling to Lee Kuan Yew and Mao Zedong) and concluded that there was merit in that popular notion.

However, stereotypes may not last forever, and in China’s case, the vaunted work ethic might have started eroding in the 1980s.

In 1979, anxious of the country’s exponential population growth, the Chinese government instituted the one-child policy.

It came as no surprise then that children born after this dictum inevitably became little emperors (and in some cases, little empresses).

Called (derisively or not) as “ba ling hou” (literally, “the post-’80s generation”), many of them appear not to possess the industry and perseverance of their parents, grandparents or ancestors.

When everything is handed to you on a silver platter, then how can you feel compelled to work hard, or indeed, even to work at all?

Chinese millennials

In his highly entertaining and revealing book “Chinese Whispers,” Ben Chu, the economics editor of UK’s “The Independent,” argues that many Chinese today do not fit the typical mold.

Little emperors grow up, and many “ken lao zu” (literally, “bite old people”).

In the United States, perhaps because of the recession, or because financial independence is hard to attain, many young adults have moved back home in the last decade, to the consternation of their parents.

Pundits wring their hands over the so-called millennials, questioning their tenacity, which goes against the Puritan work ethic the confederation was founded on.

Their counterparts in China would be the “biters of the elderly,” who appear to be so laid back that they postpone looking for work, secure in the thought that if needed, their parents would financially support them in perpetuity.

Unable to bear the thought of their children suffering in any way, these parents give in to their whim, even if it means sacrificing hard-earned savings.

In Taiwan, these young people are likened to the fragile strawberry, which is easily bruised and spoiled.

In an ironic twist, they are said to be used to “eating sweet” rather than “eating bitter,” and questions are raised as to nation’s economic and social future if these youngsters do not shape up.

Aside from little emperors, fragile strawberries and good-for-nothing biters, Ben Chu cites still another class that belies the claim that Chinese are uniformly hard-working.

These “second-generation rich” (or “fu er dai”) are the Chinese equivalent of the European nouveau riche.

When China started opening its doors to the world, and began its explosive global growth, scores of Chinese shared in the economic boom.

The first-generation worked to ensure that they would join the ranks of the wealthy, but their children often did not inherit their industry.

Instead, the kids of the nouveau riche, flush with their family success, joined the ranks of their counterparts around the world: flashy luxury goods, vulgar spending, excessive materialism.

When Ben Chu asked his Chinese friend what would happen if these kids do not change their ways, the friend replied, “The country will fail.”

Suit your own taste

China seems to be going the way of the West, at least as it grows wealthier.

In 1994, 68 percent of respondents in a Gallup poll agreed most with the value “work hard and get rich.”

In 2005, only 53 percent agreed with it.

As the country grows richer, the concept of work-life balance is becoming popular, supplanting the need to work hard at all costs.

In the same Gallup poll, in 2005, one-third of the lower middle and lower classes agreed that they valued “work hard and get rich.”

In fact, in rural areas, 65 percent valued hard work above all.

But in the wealthier Beijing and Shanghai, only one-fourth of the respondents agreed with the work ethic, and one half preferred the value of “just live a life that suits your own tastes.”

No wonder Gallup in its 2005 poll posed the provocative question: “Is China’s work ethic fading?”

The answer, though, may be simpler than you think.

Historically, the Chinese worked extremely hard to escape poverty and provide security for their children.

But now that many have attained a measure of affluence, they probably are not compelled to work as hard.

The Chinese, it turns out, are just like the rest of us.

(Next week: An entrepreneur revives a family bakery full of history)

Queena N. Lee-Chua is on the board of directors of Ateneo de Manila University’s Family Business Development Center. Get her book “Successful Family Businesses” at the University Press (e-mail [email protected].) E-mail the author at [email protected].