帮理不帮亲: the Jerard Lee vs Timetric case part 2

OK, I didn't expect to stumble upon such an interesting case but hey, if the traffic to my blog in the last 24 hours is anything to go by, this is indeed a story that my readers are interested in, so here is part two to the story. I have been following but not participating the thread on EDMW-HWZ and here on Asiaone. Whilst I know exactly what Jerard thinks (as he has been participating on my blog, thank you Jerard), today I am going to talk more generally about the kind of interaction that has been going on the EDMW and Asiaone forum, shifting the focus away from Jerard for now.

Let me get one thing out of the way here for there are a lot of people saying a lot of rubbish about me on both these forums about my nationality - I am British. Singapore does not allow for dual-nationality so I had to give up my Singaporean passport when I took on British nationality, it turned out to be a good move as I got a far better package moving to Singapore in 2011 as a British expatriate FT. And if you're buay song about it, then you only have yourself to blame for voting for the PAP who created such an FT-friendly environment. My stint in Singapore came to an end a while ago and I am back in London now as my company's marketing campaign is no longer focussed on Asia. Besides, I missed London as I have a lot more life outside work in London and I am actively involved in the arts and sports here. Also, my scholarship was not from the Singaporean government - ie. no bond to break, no compulsion to return to Singapore after I graduated - that allowed me to find a job in London upon graduation. I really don't care if you like me or hate me, but please at least get your facts right.

Now I would like to explain first and foremost that I simply do not participate in such forums. I used to years ago and it was a way for me to maintain a connection to Singapore. I have actually made some really good friends from those forums and three of my best friends in Singapore were actually made on one such forum. Incidentally, none of them bother with forums any more for the very same reason as myself: we were sorely disappointed with the nature of the interaction on such forums. Most Singaporean forums are full of rambling threads that are full of Singlish one-liners. This is not dissimilar to the way you can leave a comment on a friend's Facebook status update or a photo they've uploaded onto Facebook - but if everyone is not saying that much, that means the kind of interaction is limited and very shallow indeed. I'm sure there's a time and place for that kind of interaction (that's for Facebook, IMHO) but that is really not the kind of interaction I seek. I am after a more profound exchange of ideas and my blog has been the ideal vehicle for that.

I am much happier blogging than participating on a forum. 

I have been accused of being very 长篇大论 on my blog and compared to those who can write no more than one line on those forums, yeah, I guess I must come across as very 很长气! So those who don't have the patience to read my 长篇大论 would stick to the forums but those who are after a more in-depth analysis will choose to read my blog. Someone on the AsiaOne forum has even labelled this post a 'novel' - good grief, makes one wonder if he has ever tried to read a real novel like Pride And Prejudice or To Kill A Mocking Bird. That's the younger generation for you - they have the attention of a fruit fly. I'm simply not interested in interacting with people like that.

It can be risky to try to seek advice in an open forum like that because you never quite know who is going to respond - anyone can have a say in the issue but not everyone knows what the hell they are talking about. I've seen this happen before in forums where people seek advice on anything from education, employment to travel and boy, the amount of bad advice that came their way on these forums. The onus is then on the thread starter to try to sift out the pearls of wisdom from bad advice. Now there's nothing wrong in principle in throwing a problem out to the public and trying to gather ideas, especially when you are faced with a perplexing situation and you just want to brainstorm - but do you know what to do with the random information generated as a result of your thread on the forum? Do you know whom to listen to and who to ignore? Are you prepared to approach the issue with an open mind or is your mind already made up? If the latter is the case, then what is the point of participating in the forum then?

Do you know how to make sense of the information thrown at you on forums?

I have refrained from taking part in forums for a number of years already. After all, I have been dragged into a lot of flame wars in the past with a number of people whom I simply disagreed vehemently with. Those flame wars got ugly and even the moderators were powerless to stop those - they got personal and nasty. I don't need that kind of angst in my life!

One thing that I found rather ridiculous on the EDWM forum was the accusation that I am not taking Jerard Lee's side because I am no longer a Singaporean. WTF? Is this some kind of football match and you're trying to find out which side I am supporting? A football match is very straight forward when you have two countries playing each other and you can choose to decide to support one side or the other - or neither side, if you really don't have any strong feelings towards either country. Imagine if you were watching a football match of Angola vs Malawi, which side would you want to win? Chances are, you probably wouldn't care either way which team wins if you didn't have any connection with either country but if you were genuinely interested in football, then you would watch the game anyway and say, "May the best team win."

Likewise, I don't feel any kinship with Jerard Lee. So he's from Singapore - so what? Am I supposed to express some kind of patriotic kinship to him on that basis? For my readers in Singapore, ask yourself this: if some random Singaporean came up to you on the MRT and asked you for help - would you unconditionally agree to help that fellow Singaporean regardless of his circumstances? Or, would you hear what he has to say and then evaluate his situation fairly and then decide what your response should be? Sorry Jerard, it's nothing personal, but it reminds me of when I first started university in England. My mother told me to try to find some other Singaporeans at my university to make friends with. I smirked and told her, "Do you grab random Singaporeans in Ang Mo Kio and try to make friends with them on the basis that you are all Singaporeans? It doesn't work like that - you make friends with people you have something in common with and you'll be amazed how little fellow Singaporeans have in common apart from their nationality." It is a fallacy to imagine that Singaporeans are a monolithic entity when really, we are so diverse and two random Singaporeans put together may have virtually nothing in common or they may end up hating each other.

By that token, I also have no kinship with this Amit Patel (Jerard's ex-boss who is an Indian national) as well - he is probably one of those guys in sales who are probably not very nice to work for. Based on what little I know about him (from this case),  he does sound pretty typical of the kind of sales director one may encounter in this industry. Certainly, I have no reason to like him or want to defend his actions and I agree that some of the tactics he has used (eg. the Ninja Turtle jokes) were inappropriate, but to put it in context, I have seen sales directors who have done far worse things and pushed people a lot harder. And the same can be said about Ruben Kempeneer. I have no idea who he is and have no reason to want to like or defend him. I hope I have made that crystal clear.

I have no reason to like or defend any of the parties involved.

So it boils down to this: I'm putting nationalities aside here. It is irrelevant, I am merely looking at the case and saying, "Give me reasons to like/dislike each person involved and I shall evaluate them individually - I will be fair to all."  I believe in the principle of 帮理不帮亲 and I stand by it. Oh believe you me, that has even gotten me into trouble with my father. He has had countless arguments with my brother-in-law's parents and it really irks him when I don't take his side. I would always ask him for more details and suggest ways that he can resolve the situation in a most constructive and pragmatic manner. Sometimes that's not what he wants to hear at all, he just wants to hear me agree with him as to just how stupid and unreasonable they are whereas I keep trying to make suggestions as to how he can improve his relationship with them. He often accuses me of 帮理不帮亲, but such is the way I view the world - I always take the side of reason even when my own father is involved at the risk of incurring his wrath!

Yes the in-laws are very difficult people to deal with, but my father isn't exactly blameless either. In fact, he makes a fundamental error that Jerard has made as well. The in-laws would say tactless, even offensive things to my father and what would my father do? He would get very angry and upset but he wouldn't respond. Then he would come to someone like me and complain about just how rude, nasty, horrible the in-laws have been to him and I'm like, 你有告诉他们你的感受吗? No. He doesn't and I'm like, how on earth would they know just how offended you feel if you don't say a word to them about it? This is why they upset you time and time again, because you let them get away with it! In trying to point this out gently to my dad, I get accused of 帮理不帮亲 - that is why I can see similarities between Jerard and my dad, they both have a very stubborn mindset and I won't be able to change their minds on the issue.

I do feel that many of the Singaporeans who are supposedly on Jerard's side have a different agenda, namely they are angry with the government's policy on foreign talents and do not want to see Singapore's population grow to 6.9 million. So they have effectively turned this into a Singapore vs Foreigner case whilst missing out on some of the details of the case, thus losing their objectivity. Clearly, these people are looking for any excuse to spout racist, xenophobic rhetoric and some of the things that have been said about Amit Patel (on the basis of his Indian ethnicity) have been horrific to read. I accept that Amit had behaved inappropriately to Jerard in the office - but how can blatant racism be acceptable under any circumstances? These Singaporeans on these forums clearly discredit themselves when they use such racist language.

It is appalling to read some of the comments on these forums - I grew up in Singapore where I always had good friends who were Indian. By all means, attack Amit Patel as an individual if you must, if you are really that angry with him - but how do you think other Indians will feel if they saw some of these blatantly racist anti-Indian comments on these forums?  How can you expect me to take such people seriously then, for these forums are really have quite a toxic environment and already, I have seen flame wars breaking out amongst the forum members on both the HWZ-EDMW and the Asiaone forums, when they cannot see eye to eye on this case. Heck, I look at these forums and I think, "good grief, aiyoh - this is why I no longer partake in forums like that."

No more flame wars for Limpeh, no thank you.

Is there genuine support for Jerard Lee out there amongst Singaporeans? Let's look at the issue a bit closer - on the surface, sure it does seem that has received many messages of support on both forums but then again, what does that mean? It's a bit like trying to solve the problem of hunger in Africa by 'liking' the picture of a hungry African child on Facebook. Talk is cheap. I am sure some of these people do genuinely want Jerard to triumph in this case for they too fear the prospect of working under an unkind foreign boss. Sure Jerard may draw some encouragement from their messages, but in practical terms - does it bring him any closer to any kind of resolution with his former employers Timetric? No, not really. But surely they care about their reputation? Well, even if they are aware of the storm erupting over the forums and the story appearing in Wanbao, this hasn't been picked up by the mainstream media in Singapore yet. The challenge for Jerard is to see if he can get the mainstream media interested and here's his challenge - it is premature at this stage for the press to write about it. If he can establish a case - ie. a crime has a been committed and the police get involved, or if at least if there is a major court case - otherwise, what is there to report? That someone got called a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle? Is that a crime?

According to his posts on the EDMW forum, Jerard Lee has engaged the services of a lawyer and at least is seeking legal advice from a professional rather than relying on the opinions of random strangers on those forums. What Jerard really needs right now is another job - not only is he currently jobless (he was the only breadwinner in his family) but he is now racking up legal costs by engaging a lawyer. Will any of these friends on the forums give Jerard a job and offer Jerard the kind of management he desires? We shall see. Like I said, talk is cheap - let's see one of them actually give Jerard some money for his legal bills or a job. Go on then, who's going to be the first to take out their wallet?

Talk is cheap - let's see you give Jerard some real help.

I get the feeling that the majority of the Singaporeans on those two forums have absolutely no idea what Timetric actually sells and few of them have actually visited Timetric's website. This is important as it boils down to the fact that Timetric operate in the B2B sphere, they have a very niche product. In their own words, they describe their product as, "Critical Intelligent For Key Sectors". So dear readers, how many of you would fancy spending US$4995 on their 2012 Offshore Centres Private Banking Handbook? Or US$3800 on their 2020 Foresight Report on Trends In Non-Life Insurance Underwriting? These are very industry-specific niche market products which are very expensive. These are not products like chocolate biscuits, T-shirts or pens for the retail market. A company selling chocolate biscuits would need to generate revenue by selling a large volume of products at a relative low price. A company like Timetric does the complete opposite: they generate revenue by selling a small volume of their products at a very high price.

I have not had the pleasure yet of receiving a cold call from someone at Timetric trying to flog me one of these reports, but I have been contacted by some of their competitors over the year and there are companies out there who do spend this kind of money on a market intelligence report. After all, big companies spend millions putting together a marketing plan and spending a few thousands on a market intelligence report to make sure they have all the right information to support their multi-million dollar marketing plan is completely normal. Companies like Timetric can't just sit back and wait for people to come knocking on their door or surfing onto their websites - no, they have to be proactive and approach companies who are potential clients for their products and find new customers through cold calling prospects.

Market intelligence is big business.

Some time ago, my boss asked me to look at the price of one such products - it was an intelligence report very similar to the kind Timetric are selling (but from one of their rivals). I found one that was close to what we were looking for, but it just wasn't relevant enough to what our project was focussed on. I had to tell the sales person from that company a polite no and you could sense the disappointment in her voice when I said no, for I could guess how much in commission she could have made from that sale. What did it boil down to in the end? It wasn't even the price - a few thousand dollars was the kind of price one would typically pay for something like that. No, it boiled down to whether or not they had the right product for our needs - and no, they didn't.

Did we care if the company had treated their staff well? No. Did we care if the people who had put together the report were paid a fair wage for their efforts? No. Did we care about anything apart from the usefulness and suitability of the product itself? No. Are we cold hearted bastards in the banking industry? Guilty as charged. There is a time and place to buy Fairtrade coffee and bananas to make sure that the poor farmer in Africa is getting a fair price for his produce, but in the world of financial intelligence, the truth is no one really gives a shit about the company's reputation as long as the information they sell us is what we want.

Such is the nature of the industry. When you put the face of a thin African farmer on the packaging of a packet of coffee beans, immediately we think, "of course this hardworking farmer deserves to get a fair price for his coffee." But would we feel the same way about a well-dressed Singaporean executive who hasn't been treated fairly by his boss? Somehow Jerard's face is far less likely to evoke the same kind of emotions as our African coffee farmer. There is a key difference - a coffee farmer in Uganda has far less options when it comes to trying to make a living, but someone like Jerard can easily get another job in Singapore - he is still better off than your average farmer in Uganda. This is why we tend not to worry about the people involved in the making and selling of Timetric's products, because we know they are not vulnerable people like your Ugandan coffee farmer.

I wish to talk about the UK media now since Jerard has been going on and on about it on the forums. In his own words, "My advice to you all. Settle this privately before it really goes viral. Once UK media picks this up, ho seh to you all. Gg." Post #1418 on the HWZ-EDMW forum.

Now a story that has dominated the headlines here in the UK for the last few days is the disaster in Dhaka, Bangladesh where a factory building collapsed on the 24th April 2013, killing hundreds who had been working inside. The factory supplied cheap clothing destined for shops on the UK high streets like Primark and there was a lot of debate in the media about whether our insatiable appetite for cheap fashion has played a part in this disaster. Everyone loves a bargain and clothes at Primark are very cheap by any standards - but they are made by Bangladeshi workers who are slogging away in such sweat shops, under horrific conditions. The workers are paid very little, are treated very badly by their bosses and work up to 16 hours a day. It is a terrible tragedy and no doubt, it must have been featured on the news in Singapore as well.

Now when we see such harrowing images of bodies of women being pulled out of the rubble and of relatives crying hysterically over the dead bodies, we can't help but feel incredibly uncomfortable if we have ever bought a piece of cheap clothing from somewhere like Primark or Peacocks. There is even a talk about boycotting Primark (and a protest too, reported here on the BBC) to stop the exploitation of these poor Bangladeshi women who work in these clothing factories. There have been various initiatives set up to collect money for those affected by this disaster in Dhaka and many people have donated generously. So yes, from this reaction of this story we can deduce the following two facts:

1. The British public is compassionate and kind.
2. The British public does care about what happens halfway around the world, even if it doesn't affect them.

Now in light of this tragedy in Bangladesh, let's imagine Jerard trying to get a British journalist interested in his story.

Jerard: Hello, I read your report on the Dhaka tragedy and I have another story for you, from Singapore.

British journalist: Oh yes, I am very interested. Please tell me your story.

Jerard: My boss and his boss ganged up on me in the office and made life hell for me, I tried complaining to the head office in the UK but they are not willing to take any action. Surely British companies take the issue of bullying in the office very seriously. Can I tell you my story please and can you write about it?

British journalist: Well, bullying in the work place is illegal. Oh my, I am sorry to hear that you've had such a bad time. As you know, our newspaper always reports human interest stories from around the world and if there is a British connection, say to a British company, then our readers will be interested. What did they do to you at this company?

Jerard: They laughed at my photograph on my identity card. And they called me a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle by email - and there was that thing about the pizza...

British journalist: Oh... Are you serious?

Jerard: Yes, it has affected me mentality and now I am depressed and cannot work.

British journalist: You are depressed... because someone laughed at your photo and called you a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle? Excuse me... Did I actually hear you correctly?

Jerard: Yes! And the head office in the UK refused to take action when I complained.

British journalist: And you think our readers in the UK would give a shit about this?

Jerard: Of course!

British journalist: At least 380 people died in Bangladesh and hundreds are still missing - that's is why the British public care about what happened in Dhaka. And you expect them to express the same kind of compassion because your boss called you a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle at work?

Jerard: Well I....

British journalist: ?!?!?!?! (Hangs up the phone.) 

Aiyah Jerard. Your timing very bad leh. You're trying to engage the British media after a major Asian disaster story? The British media gets interested in stories like that where people die and/or suffer, like the Boston Marathon bombings where innocent people got killed and injured in the blasts. Let's put things in perspective here: you got called a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle whilst 380 people died in Dhaka under the most horrific circumstances. Let's just pause for a moment and compare the two stories from the point of view of a journalist and if you still don't get it, well...

But hey, don't let me discourage you from contacting all the press in the UK. Long distance calls are very cheap these days if you use Skype. Feel free to contact every single news agency in the UK, I am not trying to discourage you - oh no, Limpeh is encouraging you to do so because I want to see how you will fair in this challenge. Please do contact everyone from the BBC to Sky News to ITV news to the Guardian to the Times to the Daily Telegraph to Reuters and all the tabloids as well - I am sure they will be so very interested to talk to you Jerard. See? Limpeh so encouraging one you know? Tell you what - why don't you make a list of all the UK media agencies you wish to contact and I'll double check your list for you to see if you've missed anyone out and I'll even help you make sure that list is complete.

"So he called you a teenage mutant ninja turtle?"

I feel that I have been talking a lot about how I feel about this story but perhaps it isn't fair to judge this story from a distance as I am currently in London. In part 3, I will be interviewing a local journalist who will be shedding more light on the issue from the point of view of the local media and he shares some of the reaction of his colleagues when they first encountered the story. The good news for Jerard is that yeah, journalists and other professionals in the media in Singapore know of this story, as for the bad news... you'll have to wait for part 3 to be written, akan datang.

As usual, don't be shy, do leave a comment below, kum siah.

Why not share your story on YouTube too Jerard?