What I Learned While Training In Asia

Jean Barbazette, President, The Training Clinic

Our recent 2½ week trip to Singapore and Jakarta has been a very interesting, educational work/vacation experience. It will be difficult to share the whole experience with only words because much of Singapore and Jakarta (especially Jakarta) are assaults on the nose, ears and nerves.

We spent 9 days in Singapore to attend HRD Asia--the first HR conference in that part of the world. I gave a presentation at the conference on how to "Make New Employee Orientation a Success". The conference was attended by delegates from 17 countries. Delegates came from the Middle East, India and China as well as the region. The conference was opened by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and several Ambassadors from the 17 countries were introduced. Part of the conference was shown on local evening news shows. We spent an additional week in Jakarta, Indonesia to conduct three days of workshops: "How to Manage the Training Function" and "Make New Employee Orientation a Success".

Singapore is cleaner, safer, better run and, in many ways, prettier and more diverse than almost any American city. The cleanliness is amazing. The streets, buildings and vacant lots are kept litter free--just like Disneyland. The people are very sophisticated in their style and dress, but very gentle, gracious and open in their relationships with others. Everybody seems to have a "customer service" and "national productivity" orientation. The quality movement is well underway in many organizations.

We learned a few interesting tidbits:

  1. English is the common language in Singapore. Students are taught all but one class in English. The one class not in English is a class about their native language (which may be one of many languages). In Malaysia and Jakarta all but one class are taught in the native tongue (Indonesian is their native language, although there are 200 other languages spoken). There is one class a day on the subject of English.
  2. The culture in each country is exceptionally diverse. We visited Catholic and Protestant churches, Hindu temples and Islamic mosques. We ate many types of foods--American fast foods (McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken), Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Malaysian and Dutch (yes, Dutch, since the Dutch settled Indonesia and there is still some remaining influence).
  3. Singapore has a national plan and vision for the future. It is called "Vision 20/20"; (20/20 standing for the year 2020). The citizens know what is planned (they can buy a copy of the plan at a subsidized, inexpensive price) and are working toward it. There is construction and growth everywhere. The influence of the environmental movement is also very visible in Singapore.
  4. Jakarta, on the other hand, looks like Singapore 30 years ago, we were told. Very little organization, building or pollution control was apparent. They have a long way to go.
  5. The government in Singapore is very paternalistic and strict. They have expensive fines for every infraction: spitting on the sidewalk - $500; Jaywalking - $500; littering - $500; drug trafficking - death! All of these penalties are enforced, and quickly. One drug trafficker was hanged one year after being arrested. He had one appeal prior to his execution--which he obviously lost. Because of the penalties, drugs have virtually disappeared in Singapore.
  6. In Singapore 86% of the people live in government-built housing. It's usually a flat in a 15-20-story building. They pay for their flat monthly by a deduction from an account that would be the equivalent of our Social Security account. After 30 years of payments they own the flat. All workers pay a 30% income tax into the "Social Security" account that is also used for retirement and college tuition. There wasn't any visible homelessness in Singapore. Singapore unemployment was 1½%, and there are no unemployment benefits.
  7. Singapore is expensive and Jakarta is cheap by U.S. standards. Singapore is a shopper's paradise with upscale malls everywhere you turn. In Jakarta the crafts and arts are beautiful, but the places to go shopping are limited and not very appealing.
  8. Both Singapore and Indonesia have petroleum-based economies. Singapore is the world's second largest petroleum port behind Houston. The largest business in Indonesia is Caltex--a joint venture between the Indonesian government, Chevron and Texaco that began in the 1940's. . . . lots of technical training going on here.
  9. We had several people ask us our opinion on the presidential election. There was tremendous interest about U.S. affairs and how our election would affect that region of the world. Conversations about globalization, the world economy along with training concerns took place frequently.
Some training observations:
  1. Time sense is casual: every session began late, 15 minutes is not unusual. Breaks of 10 minutes often drifted to 20 minutes. Business dress in Jakarta is a white long-sleeved shirt and tie for men (no jacket) and dress, jacket, low heels and no stockings for women. Men wear suits or jackets in Singapore. Name tents show just first names on the front side.
  2. Participation during the sessions was passive unless activity was requested. Preparing participants with a written exercise, then to small groups greatly facilitated large group discussions. Interaction and participative workshops are considered more enjoyable and desirable, but need to be well facilitated.
  3. Audiences are patient, not very critical or judgmental. However, they ask specific questions if you talk too much in generalities or theory. It is considered inappropriate to confront others directly. When disagreeing, nervous laughter is a typical response. You are likely to get "not yet" instead of a flat "no".
  4. Participants frequently talk in side conversations following a break or when an instructor is answering someone else's question. They are usually discussing the question among themselves. One question can easily lead to an entirely new group discussion.
  5. Many Asian trainers face the same concerns we have in Orange County. How to accomplish more with less, how to prove the cost-effectiveness of training, and how to keep current with the effect of business and industry trends that affect training. One of the biggest concerns was how to develop managers to handle the changes that are here or on the way.

The hospitality and openness of the people we met was wonderful. We plan to continue presenting our workshops in Asia and have return trips planned.