Cultural differences in the office

So I'm in the office.  Lovely office it is, we moved in a couple of weeks ago.  Top class.  Now there happen to be a few of us in the office.  The chap next to me mind you, isn't the most cultured.  He coughs and sneezes in my direction without covering his mouth, and worst of all, he has a habit of spitting phlegm into the bin during the day.  Actually, he positions the wastepaper bin just under the right arm of his chair so that he can lean over and spit into it.  Kinda gross.

 

Now, what should i do?  Should I have a quiet word with him?  Some say that I have to accept that this is local culture, and so grin and bear it.  I'm not so convinced though - we are a french company, and regardless I thought Shanghai aspired to international personal habits, especially when it comes to spitting.

 

I've heard stories of how it can be worse out on our client sites, say in a manufacturing context.  Certainly with clients, I wouldn't be able to say anything.  But as to the behaviour of my colleagues, I think I expect more.  Particularly as we aspire amongst other grand things that our colleagues would be able to travel out and join our global consulting workforce. 

 

In the office, we've done some training on how to dress, how to blow your nose, how not to roll up your trousers in summertime.  There's more work on coughing and spitting to be done, and also clarification on whether it's ok to sleep at your desk or in your chair following lunchtime.  These things of course are done by the distinct minority.  But it's interesting because it's such a departure from what you could expect in a similar office back in the West.

 

Are civilised manners a western thing?  Or do they transcend nations?  Probably some of each, and as such, there's plenty of grey area, and not any simple ways of moving forward.

 

Another thing that is noticeably different is political correctness.  It's a sensitive topic in the UK, and ultra sensitive in the US.  Here though, it's quite different.  The secretaries are commonly referred to as 'mei nu'(beautiful girl) instead of their names, by the men and women in the office.  It's so common that I'm not sure if it constitutes a compliment or not.  I had one lady in the office actually trying to coach me to give more compliments to women in the office, about the way they dress, or look each day.  She said that it would make them happy.  Maybe.  Back home, if I did that I'd soon end up with a lot of enemies, or being asked to leave.  Worse still, my company would be liable to compensationary damages to the women I had caused uncomfort to.

 

My cousin also works in my company.  Soon after joining she had a colleague harrass her with flirtatious messages over MSN, and text messages late in the evening.  All this from a young married man with children no less.  She had to firmly tell him to back off and behave.  Be warned, ye attractive ladies.  China is not yet PC.