【有文稿】韩国人真会玩 团建要求参加假想葬礼

Lincoln: In South Korea, some companies have been making their employees take part in their own pretend funerals. Now, we should say that it’s not “some” companies; it’s a specific company that’s chosen to do this. Michael, I saw this story – it looked rather odd. Can you tell us a little bit more? Michael: It is rather odd. So, you’ve got what’s called the Hyowon Healing Centre, which is in Seoul somewhere, and what this offers is the opportunity for people to come in and stage their own funerals. So, there was a case study that was covered by BBC recently which said that staff from one particular recruitment company in Seoul were taking part in this exercise – they were dressing in white robes, they were sitting at desks and writing final letters to their loved ones, and then sitting next to these desks are a load of coffins – so, you know, each desk has its own particular coffin. You then get in your coffin, you lie down, you hug a picture of yourself draped in black ribbon, which I think is a particularly bizarre element of this rather macabre ritual. The boxes are then banged shut by a man dressed in black with a tall hat, who is supposed to represent the angel of death. (Lincoln: Wow) And the man who runs this healing centre says this is all designed to help people come to terms with their own problems. Now, it’s probably worth noting at this point that his previous job was actually with a funeral company, so maybe that’s where he got all his coffins from – maybe he got them at a wholesale price. (Lincoln: Maybe can’t return them, or something) Yeah, well, can’t return them. (Lincoln: Better find a use for these!) Put them to good use. But a lot of people seem to view this quite positively. There was one participant who said after this experience, he realised that he should try to live a new style of life, and he said that he realised that he had made a lot of mistakes, and he hoped to be more passionate in all the work that he did and spend more time with his family, so, you know… Lincoln: Was his boss in the room when he was asked that? Michael: That’s not made clear, that wasn’t clear. But the boss in question, who made his employees undergo this rather strange ritual, said that his company has always encouraged employees to change their old ways of thinking, and that he thought that going inside a coffin would be such a shocking experience that it would completely reset his employees’ minds for a completely fresh start in their attitudes. Lincoln: All right. Wu You, what do you think of this frankly ludicrous display here? WY: OK, so, first of all, probably having this kind of fake funeral will raise their awareness of how precious their lifetime is. But, frankly speaking, those kinds of fake funerals are more like a special meditation to them, but it doesn’t solve the real problem in their lives. All this kind of meditation, or all this kind of fake funeral, they cannot solve a thing. Michael: Do you think this would catch on in China, and if not, why not? WY: It is rarely seen – lying in a coffin or near to that. I think it represents bad feng shui Lincoln: I think that’s almost universal. I think, almost universally, lying in a coffin represents… (Michael: It’s not a good look, is it?) It’s not a good look, it’s really not. I’m fascinated by this idea of corporate – not hazing rituals, necessarily, but kind of, team-building things. I remember, when I was younger, it was something that happened quite a lot – people went on retreats, team-building retreats, or whatever, these kinds of things. But it seems like nowadays it’s not as common, doing these rituals like trust-fall exercises or those kinds of things. WY: I have to say that in lots of companies, we still have the culture of having these kind of team-building, or just get together and have a party. Michael: But I have to say, Wu You, there’s a world of difference between getting together and having a party, and doing all these morale-team-building exercises!