Chapter 23 Section 23 Drinking with Singaporeans

Even though Beijing International Club is a place for international people to drink and chat with coffee, it is difficult to have truly memorable dishes. Think about it carefully, there is only one vegetable dish, fried spinach, fried spinach except Beijing International Club Besides, I really haven't seen it anywhere else.This dish is fried with spinach wrapped in flour. The flour and spinach are both crispy and sweet. With the memory of fried spinach, there is the memory of Singaporeans.Singapore, a small country in Asia, has a population of 4 million and a land area of ​​618 square kilometers, 78% of which are Chinese. It was separated from Malaysia on August 9, 1965 and is now one of the richest countries in the world. It ranks second in world competitiveness.Drinking with Singaporeans at the Beijing International Club, the first one is the chief representative of Singapore Overseas Union Bank in China, a Confucian scholar, who likes Chinese traditional culture very much, and talks about entrepreneurship and development. He said that the entrepreneurial spirit of the Chinese is not even comparable to Americans. I understand that the biography of his boss was written by the editor-in-chief of the American "Time Magazine", but it was not finished.The boss went to Nanyang from Chaozhou at the age of 13. He was empty-handed. He was reluctant to wear a pair of cloth shoes, tied around his waist, and walked barefoot. Later, he suffered a lot from starting a small business to building the second largest bank in Singapore, the Overseas Union Bank. Now he is 90 years old. , I still have to go to the bank every morning to take care of it.He said that it is very difficult for Singaporeans to start a business. It is such a small island without any resources and lack of water. They always negotiate with Malaysia for water supply.In the past, I only knew that people who were used to staying in the United States didn't like Singapore. They said that Singapore was rigid and even chewing gum was forbidden.In the wine room with the chief representative of Overseas Union Bank, I felt their "suffering culture" for the first time.In addition, Singaporeans care about face and are afraid of losing. Maybe they always keep in mind the root of the hardships of starting a business, and it is even more difficult to keep a business.

Once again drinking with a Singaporean at the Beijing International Club, I met Zhou Ruipeng, the Beijing correspondent of the Singapore Lianhe Zaobao. I only read his articles in the Lianhe Zaobao before. He is a master who dares to write anything. Take a seat, What I drank was Great Wall Dry Red.Zhou Ruipeng speaks Mandarin better than I do, and his face is slightly dark. This is the only imprint of a Singaporean.This time we ordered two servings of fried spinach and drank it casually. It was a kind of small talk. Zhou Ruipeng and Xu Ningning, the director-general of the Southeast Asian Business Council, competed to be the host.When Zhou Ruipeng talked about the development of Singapore, he also said straight away: It is not easy for us!Why is it not easy? Everyone understands each other, so we won't talk too much.Just talking about professionalism, Zhou Ruipeng said that it is difficult to start a business, and it is also difficult to keep a business.Therefore, Singaporeans are still working hard, and Singaporeans are dedicated and honest.Speaking of this, he cited the press conference of China Eastern Airlines as an example. When the Zaobao reporter got the news materials, he also received a red envelope. The Chinese custom is called carriage fee, but the Zaobao reporter threw it away angrily. He said it was for him. Insult, this is professionalism.However, he added that the monthly salary of journalists like them is 20,000 Singapore dollars (1 Singapore dollar is equal to 4 yuan), and our salary is enough for us to live on.Drinking with two Singaporeans, my impression is that Singaporeans are not slack in their affluent days.Singapore has three development routes in Asia, China, India and Indonesia.Singapore's investment in China has reached 45 billion US dollars, and it is China's seventh largest source of foreign investment, which shows that it is really powerful.