Day 3 – I used to think, Now I think
I used to think that China, Suzhou is going to be more like
a village with very poor traffic disciplinary. I also thought the place was
going to have a lot of people on the streets. But now that I have already
observed the area, their traffic is actually not that bad and drivers actually
stopped at red lights. The place and environment are way different from my
imagination. There are tall buildings, shopping malls and a great atmosphere.
The streets are very clean, peaceful and calming. There were not many people
walking on the streets. There were certainly a lot more cars and E-bikers than
motorcycles.
I used to think that Huan Li Technology is a very massive
company, just like any other factories, which is why that made them top amongst
the rest. But now that I have already learnt, the machines in the company are
the ones that do most of the jobs and the workers are just there to touch up on
imperfections that the machines have made. Certain areas require human work
where the machines are not able to do. The company is as equally large as the
other companies but there were fewer workers. This way, the company practices
on efficiency of time and money management.
I used to think that the people in China will not be as
friendly. I was actually worried in making friends and getting to know more
about my mentors because I felt isolated within the Chinese people, despite
having other students who practices other cultural activities such as Vietnam,
Thailand and India that was with us throughout this trip. I thought that the
people in China would prefer people speaking Mandarin more than non-Mandarin speaking. But now that I have experienced my three days in Suzhou, I learnt
that the people are all equally friendly and helpful. They love to talk too!
They are very humble and appreciative. They love to give more than taking them.
They are also very understandable of my religion practices and even took the
trouble to get halal food just for me. They are very sincere and their very
best to make me comfortable despite the challenges of conversational exchange.
Liyana Khatun
I used to think that such a big company that makes and
produces their own products would have many more workers. However that is not
the case, and now I know that they only have 177 workers; including official
workers and interns. This is because most of their production is done by
machines so large numbers or factory workers are not needed. This also saves
the company lots of money as they do not need to pay a lot of staff members.
I used to think that the Human Resources just dealt with
lots of paper work, resumes, and conducting interviews, and most of the work
was done in an office room. But now I think and know that being under the Human
Resources department requires and does so much more. They play important roles
in keeping the workplace environment comfortable and productive as well as
keeping employees motivated. They are also required to plan and execute many
important events. The job is also very people-orientated and requires us to be
social able and willing to maintain good, healthy relationships with most or
all of the employees as we also need to be viewed as friendly and approachable.
I also used to think that the people of China are very
quiet and not outspoken, however I now think that they are extremely friendly and will go out of their way
to make us feel comfortable and at home. Despite not knowing English or being
able to communicate with the non-Chinese speaking people such as myself, they
do try to speak English and wait patiently and understandingly wait for
friends to translate whatever they said for us. They are also very patient when
working with us.
Kareena
Before I arrived at Huan Li, I thought that it would be
similar to a giant beehive where people rushed to and fro like in movies,
sparing no time for anyone or anything, seeing that they are such a big brand
and all. Now, I think that the above only happens during busy seasons and even
then, might not match up to that level. The Huan Li at the present moment only
need a few workers to get things done as automatons get increasingly advanced
and more efficient, thus reducing the need for workers and eliminating the
possibility of the above image of
beehive-workplace.
When I was ranking the department I wanted to be in, I chose
Human Resources because I thought that it would be about them overseeing the
work of everybody in the company and making sure that all products are
delivered on time and other business of that nature. Now, I foolishly realise
that Human Resources is not like that at all. Instead of being focused on the
workers getting things right like I thought, they are actually more concerned
about the workers themselves, such as making sure that their lunch is delivered
on time, water is always readily stocked, making sure that the interns submit
their forms on time, printing out tests and the answer key for them and their
supervisors, etc.
I used to think that the front desk job would be a rather
draining and boring job to do as they will have to stay at one spot all day
dealing with difficult customers and other generally exhausting and unpleasant
duties. Personally, I also find it pretty scary as they’ll also have to pick up
phone calls from numbers they don’t even recognise and talk to them. After
joining Human Resources and being placed in that duty, however, I now realise
that it is neither tiring, boring or scary; in fact, it’s sort of like the
duties I had to do during my time in the food team at Hearty Breakfast sessions
and Vice-President of the Drama Club. Also, I was finally able to see two
things thing I learnt at school applied there in real life as well – the petty
cash system when Yi Jie Jie passed money in an envelope to the delivery man and
bookkeeping when she recorded it down in the computer right after.
Hazel Lim
No comments:
Post a Comment