環(huán)球英語 — 538：The Museum of Laziness

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Voice 1

Hello. I’m Ruby Jones.

Voice 2

And I’m Ryan Geertsma. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 3

‘You need to finish your school work!’

Voice 4

‘But mother, I do not want to.’

Voice 3

‘Stop being so lazy. Just do your work.’

Voice 1

Around the world most parents try and teach their children to work hard. They do not want them to become lazy adults. There are many negative expressions and stories about people who do not want to work - lazy people. In today’s Spotlight we explore ideas about work and laziness in Japan and Colombia. How has world business culture affected people’s ideas? But first we tell a famous story about laziness.

Voice 2

Aesop was a writer from ancient Greece. He is famous for his fables - short stories that have a clear meaning at the end. Rachel Hobson reads Aesop’s fable ‘The Ant and the Grasshopper.’

Voice 5

It was summer. A grasshopper was jumping in the fields. The large green insect was enjoying himself. He was chirping and singing in a way that made his heart happy. Suddenly, he saw a small black insect pass by. This ant was carrying an ear of corn. The corn was very heavy for the small ant. The ant struggled to take the corn to his home.

The grasshopper was surprised. He said ‘Why not come and talk with me instead of working?’ But the ant said ‘I am helping to store food for the winter. I suggest that you do the same.’ But the grasshopper said, ‘Why worry about winter? We have plenty of food at present.’ The ant did not listen to the grasshopper. Instead he continued working.

When the winter came the grasshopper did not have food. He was dying of hunger. He saw the ant with many other ants. They had plenty of food - corn and grain. It was the food they had collected all summer. Then the grasshopper knew ‘It is best to prepare for days of need.’

Voice 1

This story shows how the grasshopper suffered because he was lazy. Most people would agree that laziness is not good. It is much better to work hard. But is there such a thing as too much work? In some countries, people are asking this question. Japan is one such country. Japan was left in a weak condition after World War Two. The Japanese knew that they would have to work very hard to rebuild their country.

Voice 2

The news magazine “The Economist” explains how Japanese companies spent a lot of time and money training their employees. The companies wanted to keep these people working for them. They promised employees many things - housing, low-cost food and good pay when they retired. The company rewarded long-time employees with better jobs and better pay - a better salary. So, Japanese workers stayed with the same company for their whole working lives. It was usually men who did this. People call these men salarymen.

Voice 1

The salarymen were thankful to the companies for taking care of them and their families. To show their thankfulness, they showed great loyalty to the companies. In Japan loyalty is an extremely important part of the culture. But it was not easy to show loyalty. To do this the men could not leave work at a normal time. They could not leave before their manager left. They had to stay very late, often until twelve AM. Many of them lived far from work. The trip home took a long time. Then they had to go back to work the next day. This caused many people to feel extremely tired. Some people have even died from working too much. There is a Japanese word for this - karoshi.

Voice 2

In the 1980’s, the government recognized karoshi as a cause of death. But for a while nothing seemed to change. However, in recent years many families have been winning court cases against companies for karoshi. When a family wins, the company could have to pay out a large amount of money for the employee’s death.

Voice 1

Hiroko Uchino won a legal case against the company Toyota. Her husband worked many extra hours every month. He did this for six months. Finally, Kenichi died of karoshi. He was only thirty years old. Before he died he told his wife his thoughts. He said he was happiest when he could sleep.

Voice 2

Slowly things are starting to change in Japan. Companies such as Toyota are promising to take better care of their workers. In modern times, more people work fewer hours. They are part time workers. Companies cannot make the same demands on part-time workers. Also, young workers are not prepared to devote their lives to companies. They are openly saying they want more time with their families.

Voice 1

The number of hours people work is a problem all over the world. International companies are competing with each other for business. In order to make more profit, they often require their employees to work longer hours. The city government of Bogota, Colombia became concerned about this situation. It wanted to make people think about the issues of work and laziness. In January 2008, it paid for a temporary museum. People would not see art in this museum. Instead visitors would find large hammocks and beds to sleep in. There were also soft chairs and sofas for people to sit in. The museum let people do the things they are normally called lazy for doing! It let them sleep, watch television, and just sit around. This museum was called the Museum of Laziness. Marcela Arrieta, the museum director explained the purpose of the project:

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“People think about laziness as an enemy of work. So we wanted to explore that. We wanted to make people think about the social meanings of - taking a short sleep break, being without a job, or in believing that maybe we are wasting time - we wanted to ask ourselves about that.”

Voice 2

People cannot always choose how many hours they work. Sometimes they have to work long hours to keep their jobs. Sometimes they may not be able to find work at all. But where possible, most people agree that there should be a balance between work and rest. For some, the idea is even part of their religion. The Jewish and Christian Bible says that God himself rested for a day after spending six days creating the world. It says that people should also rest one day a week. To such people, these are the creator’s instructions! A day of rest is a time to renew the body and spirit.