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Life in China Hu Nong
Life in China Hu Nong | Hu Nong |
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| China | |
| Thursday, 27 September 2007 | |
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There is new word in my Chinese vocabulary, hu nong, which means to do something sloppily, carelessly, with a very low degree of accuracy (usually due to the fact that you can't be bothered to do it better and that you can get away with it, and not because you are unable to or don't have time to). It is a very important, useful and common word in China, especially in the world of work, where everyone is constantly hu nonging everything. Two people will hu nong something into existence together both quite aware that they have not done the job properly. They know the result is somewhat slapdash, but neither say anything about this, both gaining reassurance and legitimacy about the shoddy piece of work from the other's silence. Hu nong becomes the bane of the lives of many foreigners living and working in China. Often they may have been sent to China specifically for the purpose of raising the productivity or efficiency of an organisation or company. But they have a secret enemy, the one which they are trying to destroy but which they cannot see and do not understand. The reason behind inefficiency, sloppy quality, multiple typos, deviation from original plans and agreements is always, always hu nong. Working with different manufacturing and print companies to create logos, leaflets, t-shirts and a mascot for the launch of our big recycling project was a very distressing time for Lisa, a German girl in our organisation, and my direct superior. She had to come to terms with logos that turned up printed in completely different shades of colour from the originals that we had provided, typos in our printed information which had been checked over many, many times, our project mascot being delivered to the office made from the wrong type of fluffy material, with the face of a monster as opposed to the cute little friendly cartoon one we'd specified. Lisa could not understand why on earth, something as simple as following a set of instructions and coming up with accurate results within a reasonable, prearranged time schedule was so much to ask. It drove her absolutely mad. I pretended that it bothered me too to keep her company in an office of full-time hu nong merchants, but in actual fact I don't really understand why all these little itsy-bitsy details bother anyone so much. Hu nong is the reason why some foreigners despair and go back to their own countries in tears, saying that to work in China is to work in an inefficient, crazy system. However, in this respect I am different. I've worked out that the reason why I love living and working in China so much is largely due to the fact that I also have a natural inclination towards hu nong. We've listed why hu nong just gets bad press, why people are not happy working with hu nong mongers and so on, now let's be fair and think about why hu nong can be very, very good.
Working with Lisa, whose work ethics are stereotypically German - highly efficient and motivated in the office with undivided attention to detail, is enough to leave most of the Chinese colleagues shuddering in their boots. While Lisa's motto is to be out the door at five on the dot, having accomplished eight hours of pure and dedicated hard work, most of our colleagues are much happier staying in the office until eight or nine, as this gives them the privilege of working half heartedly throughout the day. They play a couple of games of patience on the computer when they feel the inclination, chat to friends who pop up on MSN Messenger, laugh around with other colleagues and kick a shuttlecock around the office, being generally silly and unproductive. As long as you are prepared to put in the long hours and look like you are working hard when the boss is around, no one will take any exception to the fact that all you are doing is a half-hearted hu nong's days work that a German could probably get done before they've even eaten their breakfast. With the Olympics so nearly upon them, China is trying very hard to eradicate backward ways of doing things associated with hu nong. Radio competitions invite listeners to report incorrect English on road signs and Beijing community centres gather aged residents up on a nightly basis, teaching them essential phrases of ‘nai-se-tuo-mi-te-yu' and ‘wei-ka-mu-tuo-Beijing', with the aim of having Beijing word perfect by the time the world spotlight comes beaming down next year. Under these circumstances, it is perhaps inappropriate for me to be seen to be running towards hu nong with open arms, calling ‘Hu nong, my old friend!' I cannot embrace it, yet I cannot openly ignore it either, so while Lisa's back is turned, I engage in it secretly, winking at other colleagues as I do so, having them wink back at me knowingly from their games of computer solitaire. Since I have learned the name coined for this concept, every day I have umpteen situations it can describe. I have had it on my lips constantly, and whatever I do, it's with hu nong like a guiding mantra in mind. Poppy Toland |
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