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Dear All, my name is Tan Kang Fun but I am better known as KF Tan in the market place. I am currently the CEO of a health trust company in Singapore. The testimonies I am sharing took place earlier in my career at a chemical company where I was the General Manager, at a high performance material manufacturing plant where I was the Managing Director, and at a healthcare company where I was the CFO & COO.
Nowadays it is so common to read in the news that when an ordinary man on the street is convicted of certain crimes or wrong doings, nobody will take notice of it unless it’s somebody prominent like politicians, rich businessmen or a star in entertainment world. However, I would like to add that when an ordinary church leader, like a Pastor is involved, the news media will also amplified the case. By now, you can visualise that Christians are being scrutinised by the society at large. People in general expect that Christians are good people and no wrong must be seen to be coming from them. Thus, Christians are being used as a yardstick to measure the good in society. In this regard, it is so important for Christians to “walk-the-talk”. As believers in Christ, we are not to be conformed to this corrupt world, but we are to model our lives after Christ. Romans 12:2 says “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God”. I am going to address the Christian Ethics at Workplace topic in a Q&A format.
During the 80’s and more so into the 90’s where globalisation was taking shape, many countries were opening up and, as a result, corruption was rampant in countries around this region. As the saying goes, whether you were in sales or procurement, this big “C = Corruption” word must be blended into your business strategy in order to be successful in a globalised world. As a Christian, I beg to differ and we can navigate through this web of corruption by trusting in God for help. Proverbs 29:4 says “A just king gives stability to his nation, but one who demands bribes destroys it”. It is clear that corruption not only destroy a person but also a country. Just look around countries with corrupted leaders will result in its people living in poverty.
I had been involved in both the roles as a buyer and as well as in sales of the organisations that I worked for. I will not disclose which organisation but will address the issue. I remember that when I first took over as head of the commercial department, I had to visit customers and suppliers in the region. As a buyer, in all the places that I went to, I was treated extremely well. It was just like nature that these suppliers will automatically want to provide me personal benefits for the furtherance of our business dealings. My response to this was that I told the suppliers to provide further discount to the price we agreed on. I will also add on to say that our sourcing strategy is to buy products or materials with quality meeting our specification, with on time delivery and competitive pricing. After sometime, words get around that what I look for is quality, price and on-time delivery. Through this, many suppliers were very happy to deal with us as they don’t have to build in additional costs into their pricing.
In sales, I’ll be sitting on the other side of the fence just like the suppliers I described before. It was a practice for sales staff to entice buyers of products with personal “incentives”. If not, it was extremely difficult to make any sales and the buyers will look elsewhere for supplies. To overcome this issue, I have to recommend to management to sell our products through a third party or agent in that country instead of selling direct. Well, is this right knowing that my agent is now doing the “dirty” job? Well, I sincerely believe that what is important is that our conscience must be clear as the transaction between us and the agent is well above board. How the agent going to entertain the buyer in his home country is within his prerogative and there is no need for us to know. The agent is being rewarded by us as he needs to provide customer service to the buyers. If one is still uncomfortable with this arrangement then sales is not a profession for you. However, I must qualify that not all sales were done in this manner.
The first recorded miracle in the New Testament is told in John 2:1-11 was when Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding. As such, is it wrong to drink alcohol when our Lord Jesus Christ even provided wine at a wedding? I am not a Bible scholar nor a prophet and, thus, will not be philosophical about how high is the alcohol content in the wine mentioned in John 2. What’s important is that the Bible does not forbid one to drinking alcohol. However, the Bible clearly warns us about getting drunk which can lead to reckless indiscretion. What this means is that when one is under the influence of alcohol, many silly things can happen as one is no longer in control of oneself. Thus, it is important to take heed of what Ephesians 5:18 says “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit”.
I used to drink sparingly during business functions before I came to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. After knowing what the Bible says about drinking wine, I have completely abstained from alcohol. So, in every new organisations I go to, I will take every first opportunity to declare that I don’t drink as I am a Christian. So, when I entertain or being entertained by business partners, I will just opt for fruit juice. Once your colleagues and business partners know that you don’t drink, they will not ask you again.
I have instances where people asked me why I don’t drink. I will always reply and say that it is because of my religion. I will explain that I am a Christian and though my religion does not forbid me from drinking but I make a stand and choose not to drink. I answered it this way as some can even tell you that Jesus turned water into wine. Thus, what’s wrong with drinking wine? My answer is to address my conviction as a Christian and that I took a stand not to drink though my religion does not forbid me. If they probe further, I’ll quote Ephesians 5:18 “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit”. Then I will explain that when one is under the influence of alcohol, many unforeseen things can happen. Thus, to avoid all these for myself, it is best to remain sober by not drinking. Don’t be ashamed by what you say as the Lord will take care of His own for His glory.
I used the same approach even doing business in China. Very often you will hear businesses are concluded through drinking “Bai-jiu”. Well, in China I will clearly tell the hosts or business partners that because of my religion I don’t drink. I survive doing business in China without drinking over the last 30 years.
In Chinese culture, many of us will be familiar with the Hungry Ghost Festival or better known as the seventh/ghost month festival. It is a tradition that pays respect to the spirits of the dead. Chinese believes that during the seventh lunar month, the spirits of the dead will be wondering on earth and one needs to make offerings to the spirits to ward away any bad luck befalling on oneself or one’s business. Thus, it is common for companies and factories with many Chinese employees to celebrate such festival. All Chinese employees are required to participate and make monetary contributions to the celebration. The celebration will be in the form of making food offerings, burning joss papers, eating food offered to the spirits and participating in the auction.
From 1989 to 1997, I was faithfully contributing and participating in the celebration of the seventh month festival. As a manager in the department, I must also lead in the worship of the spirits. However, all these came to a stop in 1998 as I was by then a new babe in Christ. As usual, came the time to contribute to the seventh month celebration, I politely said to the organiser with immediate effect I will no longer participate in the celebration as I am now a Christian. I explained to the organiser that I can no longer contribute nor eating any of the foods offered in prayer as my religion forbid me from doing so. When I was the GM and MD of the previous companies I worked for, I allowed the practise to continue as I have no right to stop them since it is their rights to do so. However, if the company belongs to me personally, I would have no choice but to stop the practise within the company compound. If the employees so wish to organise the celebration somewhere else then I have no right to stop them.
One important point to note is that there is no spirits of the dead lurking around on this earth at all, even during the seventh month. What we have or hear about on earth is truly the evil spirit. Since people want to acknowledge there are spirits of the dead, therefore, the devil makes us believe there are. Make no mistake that when a person dies, his or her spirit straight away goes either to hell or heaven. There is only one way to Heaven as John 14:6 says “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” How do we know we go to heaven straight away upon death? Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:9 “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”
I sincerely hope that what I have shared can be a source of encouragement to you in your walk with God. Always remember, you have God with you to lead and guide you at your workplace to overcome challenges. All you need is to reach out to Him in prayer.