The western game of Chess is more straightforward. The object of Go is to place stones on the open board, balancing the need to expand with the need to build protected clusters. Chess is a hierarchical game where the object is to catch the king. Go players seeks to enclose more territory on the board than their opponent.
This sounds like China and Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. Strategic encirclement.. i think of this when i read about the rules of 围棋. Gain more market share, territories BUT don't burn the 关系. And I have been reading The art of war by Sun Tzu.
Office politics is about 关系 too. One stays vigilante on the surroundings, maintain a good关系with colleagues but be able to identify who are the potential enemies. 关系will help one to get information and "recruit" eyes to watch one's back when one's eyes are busy looking in front.
Sounds like a cunning fox. But i supposed, if 关系 is not used to harm others in anyway, but a means of protection, then it is still not against one's conscience. Networking is also necessary in all sorts of circumstances for no man is an island by himself.
I wonder if the scholars in Singapore are trained to be as street-smart as they are academically. In China, it is all about survival. So people tend to be more conniving and selfish and i must say, very street-smart. But they are billions of people in China, it would be a sweeping comment to say everyone is selfish. I'm just saying survival instincts seem stronger in the Chinese people in China.
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