However, because of the international context and the fact
that their companies were working with each other, this harmless gift could now
have many meanings and caused my uncle a a world of problems.
In the asian
culture it is often acceptable to give gifts. However, these usually come with
the expectation of future favours from the receiver, resulting in a perception
of bribery. This gift-giving has resulted in true bribery so many times that
many multi-national companies set guidelines and limits to gifts received from
asian counterparts. Although it was just a gift on the part of his friend, my uncle
knew it could be easily seen as a case of corruption to an outside observer.
He could not just accept the watch because
with the prevalence of corruption he could be accused of accepting a bribe
which could get him and his company into a lot of trouble. On the other hand,
he could not refuse the gift because it would make his friend lose a lot of
face and damage their relationship.
What he decided to do in the end was to
record the watch as a company bonus and he made sure to work overtime, without
pay, for the exact value of the watch. He did not communicate the extent of his
troubles with his friend, he just told him that for the next birthday to please
not buy such an expensive gift.
