There is a young man I met here a few years ago. At that point of time he was hoping to improve his English so that he could qualify to work in New Zealand.
Considering the fact that he has English-speaking parents and he has undergone 15 years of formal education, it is surprising that he could not present himself in fluent English nor could he pass a professional English examination.
Reality is such that he ended up looking after his family enterprise in town. His parents happily left Borneo to live in the capital city across South China Sea. After all, his four other siblings all made it economically over there.
Living in a 5 room family home and driving four cars in turn does not make life attractive here. It is a good thing that he found himself a girl friend quite easily. Looking at his style of dressing and hair cut, I wonder if it was his mum or girl friend cutting his hair. It is quite possible that he does not draw any salary but lives on a stipend. One of my husband's university housemates worked for five years in his family foundry business without drawing any salary. His wife was furious with him that she applied for immigration. Eventually she pulled him to Australia.
There are many good traits and values among the Chinese. However, I must say that belonging to a business-running family means many potential pitfalls. Bad members enrich themselves but good members remain poor and dependent. It is almost like being a family unpaid slave.
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