Unauthorised leakages

It's been an eventful start my third week at the power station engineering company after my three week break back in England. To get straight to the point, 80% of the 15-odd strong translation department, of which I am a member, are spies, leaking information to rival companies, profiting personally at the expense of the company. That's what the boss's wife, big cheese in matters relating to HR, said today anyway. It also explains why the New Year bonus was so hopelessly small. The New Year cash bonus is a way of rewarding employees for their hard work throughout the year, and makes up for what can be very low salaries. It is usually at least a month's salary, sometimes even upto half a year's salary. However, Mrs Boss deemed us worthy of only 200kuai (20 pounds), about the equivalent of 3-4 days salary. Her reputation for miserliness is apparently famous in HR departments throughout Xi'an, and she appears to have lived up to it here. (Also, I have to pay tax on my cash income, which is worth enquiring about again).

As for the New Year bonus, what made it even more interesting was that three people got nothing, on grounds they had been caught 'xie mi' - leaking company secrets. And even more interesting than that, despite having apparently proved their treacherousness, they are still allowed to work for the company, one even leaving for Africa today for a year long assignment.

Currently, I'm in an office with three other girls, all doing translation. One is, I suppose, team leader, although no-one really knows. These three received a bit more than everyone else. So aside from the already existing physical separation, be it only a paper thin wall, a certain amount of resentment has already been added to an ever-increasing pile of grievances. And there is no point in mentioning the relationship between the Translation Dept and HR, Finance and Logistics - precisely zero communication, a mutual dislike, and now, presumably, distrust.

So where am I all in this? Being the overpaid foreigner, I try to stay out of it. There is a huge amount I don't understand. At risk of the usual over generalisation, (although it has been confirmed by colleagues), the company feels a little like a microcosm of Chinese society - unclear, vague, and underpinned with lying. There are some seriously unhappy employees around, and without a trade union or ACAS, and no signs of management at the company, I have to start wondering when it will get worse.

As for the work, I seem to have dropped off the radar of Mr and Mrs Boss. Maybe they're busy, or think I'm syphoning of secrets, but either way, I've not heard anything about the supposed business I was supposed to be creating, and have been doing English-Chinese translation with everyone else. I was thinking of pasting a paragraph of the stuff I have to translate on here - 'effects of generator de-excitation on turbine intermediate pressure casing outer shell temperature', etc, etc, but then I don't want to be done for company crimes.

Which brings us nicely onto the New Year Party, set for this Friday. The preparation could not be worse. No-one is keen on it, and with the latest developments, as well as a round of the flu, it is unlikely to be the jolliest of affairs. In fact, one person of the translation team told me that they're going to boycott it, which would really spice things up. Each department is supposed to perform two items. We've chosen a small play, and the second one was going to be a slightly racy dance routine. Despite having the dancing skills of a dead octopus, I was ready to give it ago, but time restraints meant I've pulled out, along with, now, everyone else. If worse comes to worse, a group singalong might be the best way out, I can always mouth my way through it like school hymn practice.