Sunday, April 19, 2026

Little speech to be memorised for the "Tell us about yourself" question on a job interview (HK version)

Little speech to be memorised for the "Tell us about yourself" question on a job interview:

I come from far, but my journey hasn't ended yet, surely not here, in this room, with these people. I studied a lot of things, and I still keep doing it every day, for the brain is a muscle that needs to be exercised. I hold few certainties and many values, and that might make me an uneasy companion.

I speak Chinese, but I don't give a shit about China, the U.S., or the presidents and politicians of any given country (including, especially, my own homeland). Powerful people are seldom respectable.

I probably know more about history, literature and arts of China than you, average Chinese, do, but I reject any claim of intellectual or moral superiority of any people or folks. I despise the worshipping of traditions and avoid irrationality as a way to judge the world.

I am not a religious person at all (although I am in reasonably good terms with God, most of the time, and we became good friends with the passing of years); and I definitely do not submit to the will of any Lord and his so-called representatives easily or willingly). I do not seek teleological explanations to the bullshit in life, I'd rather try to understand the links and concatenations of events that trigger circunstancial situations. Dogmatism is a radioactive broken compass to guide your life, in my humble opinion.

I do not like HK, and I do have many good reasons and bad experiences to support my opinions. On the other hand, China is too big an issue, a place and a people to be summarised in one simple statement. I do not believe that the place where I come from is the best in the world, or that such a place exists with a permanent denomination. Happiness is an instant lived and passed, and so is homesickness.

I respect and make a daily effort to feel empathy for the people around me, including (even) workmates, but I do not necessarily consider them as my family and friends. However, this does not allow me to be disrespectful or unpleasant to them.

I prefer social justice to charity. I prefer individual self-reflection to praying. I consider moral standards superior to accidental alliances, and ethics superior to inherited morality. I despise, money, mercantilism, business-mentality and adulation. I am fascinated by the study of society, but I am not a social person. I believe that there are two ways of belonging to a group: one is integration, the other one is rejection, and they are both equally valid if approached in a constructive way.

I am assertive but I consider bad taste to ask others about politics or religion. Those are nearly sacred confessions that can only come to the light after a certain kind of communion.

This is me, but there's still a million more things that I might prefer to keep for myself, as a personal treasure that shouldn't be thrown to the pigs lightly. So love me or hate me, I will go on living no matter what's your choice..



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