10
25 !
Incident 4: Mr. X had just finished loudly reprimanding one of his
Benior clerks before a junior and myself. "If you want to get
anything out of these poor devils you have to drive them, and drive
them hard, too," he remarked. So saying, he whistled and beckoned
with his finger for one of the men a fow feet away.
A minute later I said, "Mr. X, I don't want to impose some
'Dale Carnegie' stuff on you, but I'm willing to wage a bet that if
you'll take a tip in two small matters within six weeks you'll get
far more satisfaction from your men, and they'll like you better for
it, too."
"Shoot!" he said.
"Never reprimand a Chinese in the presence of others, parti-
cularly a junior, if you can avoid it. And call your clerks by name.
You'll give them a bit more 'face' that way and you're going to find
they appreciate it."
"Oh no, Braga, you're wrong.
Letting these yellow-skinned
Chinese feel themselves on a level with us white men - not on your
life! You pander to these wretches and you'll soon find they have no
respect for you, and they get out of hand. They don't understand.
They take kindness for weakness.
Chinese are almost as bad as Indians.
Give them an inch and they'll take an ell. With these people, no non-
sense; a strong, firm policy is the only thing. Yes, rough handling
is the only way to manage the Oriental, the only way to keep him in
place and make him retain his respect for you."
I have heard Chinese clerks, some of whom have had a good secondary school education and among them respectable married men with
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