Job Discussion Forums

[Mugato]

i accidentally posted this in the wrong forum and this, i believe is ON TOPIC
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does anyone else have a corrupt boss who takes re-examination fees from students that fail their exams? my boss, the dean of our university's english department also gets his chinese english teachers to write textbooks and then gets a publishing company in beijing to publish them under his name. he also tries to pimp us (FTs) to other schools or his other business-ventures that involve making use of the english language. in short, he is everything that i hate about this country and its casino capitalism. people like him make me understand what communism as an idea was trying to do. problem is that most communist cadres these days are casino-capitalists themselves and milk the country where they can. it'd be nice to expose him if he wasn't buddies with half the board of governers of the school, the uni's president and has apparently good guangxi with the PSB.

I know that corruption, bribery and mind-theft is endemic to any society, thus takes different shapes and forms at different levels (e.g. the current corruption in the Haliburton White House) but this is the first time that i have witnessed it from such close proximity!

Any other stories?

[Taishan]

Seems that you are stating the obvious!

Most bosses seem to be up to no good. Yours seems a little cleverer than mine, publishing his own books?

He could get 'purged' for being corrupt, but that only happens if they forget to buy the wrong bigwig dinner.

[anthyp]

[Mugato]

listen, anthyp-

i wasn't generalizing about all schools but giving a specific example about my school. the only generalization is about casino-capitalism, which noone in their right mind can deny exists in china. my question was if it generally stretches into the english/education sector and thus if anyone else has made similar experiences. ok!?

you're getting worked up about the wrong thing here. i did do my homework and heard some stories about the good and bad sides of my school and made a weighted decision since there is no perfect employer. my boss is fairly new to this school too and has apparently gone all-out only within the last term.

anyway, i am glad everything at your workplace is peaches and cream.

have a nice life

M

[Roger]

There was no need to be so unfair, Mugato, in singling out the Chinese commies for this sort of criticism. It's nothing to do with socialism per se but with human nature; if you had been a little more sober-minded you would have realised sleaze is never absent from American businesses either.

I do, however, agree with you that graft and despotism walk hand in hand in China, and they don't give the education system of this country a miss. They can't because education has become too big business. Anthyp's experience is totally out of character of Chinese school operators. IKt's just that the Chinese don't push the definition of 'corruption' as far as westerners in general might do. Farming out teachers to state-run schools does not, at first glance, look like a dishonest practice and therefore, many TEFLers are willing tools in the hands of the system here; yet it is illegal though perhaps not covered by legal provisions. It might constitute a loophole.
If the principal at your school gets away with publishing textmaterials compiled by his teachers then this is not necessarily a crime; do these teachers know, and if not, why not? Of course, they know. That means they agree with their boss' action. Do you know for sure he doesn't share his royalties with them? Did they complain to you? Why didn't they seek legal redress?

[Mugato]

legal redress? unfair to the commies? gimme a break...the rule of law is a joke in china and what i meant by commies is not the party but the people that are in charge of currently ongoing privatization processes-they are the cadres.

i know that sleaze is everywhere, but i happen to be here right now and i don't like what i see in my specific case. but i don't think i am being unfair to the cadres here. i see the fact commie-cats sitting in the front row at official functions and i doubt that their rolexes are rewards for promoting the unity of the workers and enhancing the class-struggle in china. granted, reform and opening has had its good sides, but i've been seeing an awful lot of sleaze and dirt at my end.

anyway, hope that's more soberminded. your recent comments sounded a lot more reasonable, roger!

M

[Sinobear]

The only thing you can do, Mugato, is stand up for yourself and protect your own interests. Get a piece of the pie for yourself whenever and wherever you can. Don't you want a Mercedes? A beautiful (bought and paid for) apartment? Don't fight the 'game' - learn to play it and profit from it.
Forget about Western morales and values - go for the gusto!
Maybe I'm being sarcastic - maybe not.


Do enjoy.

[cj750]

re-examination fees are common..even if you make a low score on the national test it is possible to pay a fine and to be allowed to study at a better institution.

Work product is the right of the employer in china..and he has no obligaiton to share...and Roger is right about American sleeze..Sears and Roebuck took a tool and registared the pat. from one of their employees and only paid him years later when the court awarded a protion of the patient to him. this is a common problem in all countries.

As to sending you out to ther work...I am not sure on this but it also may be legal, but then again it may have to do with the your willingness to oblige him...just dont.

I understand most bosses of any biz in China are corrupt...but the this can work in your favor. Try and leave what is chinese to the chinese...maybe if we are lucky "Socialism with Chinese Char" means that these kinds of abusses will not go unpunished...and that laws will change making organized corruption a thing of the past.

[Roger]

The point, MUgato, is not to be overly judgemental, and on that score youhave not been too "reasonable" in your post. What's thepoint of highlighting what we all know is normal in this country? In your own nation I am sure corruption is as bad as what you can see here.

The difference is that in your home country it affects YOU, while in China it affects mostly the Chinese themselves. It is their problem, and they have to solve this malaise.

Bygrand-standing you only lose your Chinese audience's trust.

How can those commie cats guard against the pernicious corrupting influences from, of all places, ABROAD? It is them that decide who can invest in what SOE; consequently, western avarice meets Chinese communist avarice, cross-fertilising with it. Chinese cadres still make - nominally - far less money than you probably do; a PSB top man who makes more than 3000 is a rare sight in China. But they also have dailydealings with Chinese upstarts who earn in 2 days what they make in one month. Clearly, you must take their own perspective into consideration if you want to change things.

Why don't you set up a training centre and see how you can deal with authorities without whetting their unhealthy appetites?

[Mugato]

i take most of your points about empathizing with the chinese perspective and the way things are run here. but i still think it's reasonable to grandstand and vent about these ways. i can't empathize with all behaviour all the time. granted, i was very frustrated when i opened the thread and it has somehow worn off. but still, isn't this whole forum a big venting-site that allows us to blow steam through a different format. emailing home doesn't always cut it. as teachers we don't always get the empathy that we are supposed to give to our students, so this is sometimes (but not always) a good place to hear similar stories and vent together.

no hard feelings i hope. as i said, my frustrations usually have a pretty short shelf-life!

best,

M

[burnsie]

Many of the larger schools who have official registration offer out their services to other institutions and high schools for a fee.

For instance, if the school offers extra classes with FT's the school can earn extra fees from parents, the school instead of hiring their own teacher and have the hassle and issues involved with this they just hire the services of another specialist english school. This is common in most industries and all countries not just China.

The hiring school gets extra cash, the students get extra foreign tuition, the parents have their little darlings conversing in fluent english , and the english school get to use their FT's to earn extra fees.

All happy