I find that the Chinese factories are reflective of the Chinese culture and values. In Asian culture, community is a vital aspect. It is shown in the instances where multiple Chinese workers help others get a job through networking. In fact, this is how most of the women who worked in the factories got the job. There was another woman who said that she wouldn’t have wanted to work at a factory where she knew no one, because she knew that no one would help her, since no one knew her. This is still evident in today’s society. I was able to get the job I had previously because my friend was working there. She helped me get the job by talking to her boss, and this is similar to what happened back then with the garment workers. It’s interesting to see the differences between how the Chinese had gotten their jobs compared with how the Hispanics got their jobs. There is the sense of individualism in the Korean factories, because everyone is so into their own work. They would help out their friends only minimally, in fear of losing their own jobs. This is the opposite of the sense of community in the Chinese factories. A Hispanic woman who was interviewed said that even though she talked with the other workers, she didn’t have friends. Rather, she didn’t want to make friends because she was afraid that she would lose her job. There is always a distance amongst the workers compared with the Chinese workers.

Spiraling out of that, the concept that because of this intertwining relationships, it is harder for Chinese workers to demand better pay or complain about something. Image is another important aspect of the Asian culture. The typical stereotype “shaming the family” coupled along with Asian parents has to come from somewhere, even if it is exaggerated. For example, the Chinese woman in her fifties said “My sister-in-law helped me find this job…If I want to make more, I have to try harder. She has worked here for a long time, and the owner has always kept a job for her, even in slow times. If I don’t like something, I would rather not complain. I don’t want to complain to my sister-in-law…Good or not so good, I have to take it…I would rather leave and have someone else help me find another job. She can tell the boss that I had to take care of my children.” The woman would rather have to leave the factory instead of complaining about what she dislikes, in fear of what her complaining might do to her sister-in-law. The consequences might be that her sister-in-law would get fired. Even quitting the factory where her sister-in-law got her the job might be viewed negatively because there is still a certain risk in getting a job there for someone else. Having gotten jobs due to social networking can be a double-edged sword. Hispanics on the other hand, don’t have to worry about such a thing. They don’t have anything them binding them down to a job, unlike the Chinese workers. They, instead, can move from factories to factories if the pay isn’t good.