Stupid or smart? A hero or a coward?

Malaysia has been a place where many huge corporations around the world invested as part of their globalization plans. These foreign direct investement (FDI) set up many manufacturing facitilites, research & development centers, call centers, sales offices, etc., usually known as multi-national companies (MNC). Different companies bring along different corporate cultures and values to Malaysia and thus influenced the way Malaysian "salaried workers" think. I would like to share one pretty general observation.

In East Asians companies, e.g. Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean, sick employees tend to continue to work, keep coming to the company despite being granted sick leaves by doctors. It could be a way of showing to the management that the employee put the company in the first place before their own life. Trying to impress his or her supervisors in order to get a better salary increment at the end of the year, I guess. Showing off to co-workers that he or she loves the company more than others do.

Employees from companies set up by angmo (gwailow), e.g. American, German, British, etc. have a different point of view in regards to this matter. if they are sick, they will just stay at home. The management is OK to let the employee rest at home even they are not given any sick leaves by the doctors. Employee will not be able to contribute 100% when they are sick, thus productivity drops, and the company pays you full wages for the day. Another reason for telling employees to stay at home when they are sick is that they should not come to spread viruses. This might bring the whole team down.

You judge who is smarter and you decide who to follow as your role model. The choice is yours.