fb

It’s a horses what?!

It’s a horses what?!

Business is becoming very international nowadays and more and more people are spending time working as an expat in other countries.

If you do end up working abroad it can be a great opportunity to experience another culture. One thing that is highly recommended though is not to offend the locals when it comes to their traditions.

Michael Mcfeat, a British employee of Kyrgyzstan’s largest gold mine, learnt a valuable lesson recently about the dangers of commenting on local traditions.

Whilst at a New Year’s Eve party he posted on Facebook saying that his Kyrgyz colleagues were queueing up for their “special delicacy, the horse’s penis“.

Mr McFeat was joking about the national dish “chuchuk”.

Vegetarians and horses should look away now but chuchuk is a sausage made from horsemeat and horse intestines.

Now whilst a lot of people would have seen the joke that Mr McFeat was trying to make, it appears that not everyone shared his sense of humour.

Some of his colleagues who work at the Kumtor mine briefly went on strike and there were calls for him to be prosecuted as a number of people claimed his action of comparing one of their national dishes to a horse’s penis constituted “inciting hatred”. If he was found guilty of such a crime he could have faced between three and five years in prison.

It was good and bad news for Mr McFeat though.

Whilst he was detained by the state security service for questioning (bad news), he was released by them with only a warning (good news) but they found out that he didn’t have the correct work permit (bad news) and as a result he was deported from the country (bad news).

So, the end result is that he is now back home and no longer eating horse penis working as an expat.

Share this entry

Recent articles

View All Articles
Football and John Adair’s Action-Centred Leadership
Sep 06, 2024
Title
Football and John Adair’s Action-Centred Leadership
Excerpt

Football is a sport that captivates millions, sparking intense passion and loyalty among fans worldwide. It’s not often […]

Deloitte executive gets drunk and…
Sep 03, 2024
Title
Deloitte executive gets drunk and…
Excerpt

Royal Ascot is one of the world’s greatest horse racing events. If you are ever lucky enough to […]

Pernod Ricard backs Lewis Hamilton’s spirit
Sep 02, 2024
Title
Pernod Ricard backs Lewis Hamilton’s spirit
Excerpt

Pernod Ricard, a major player in the spirits industry, has recently bought a stake in Almave, a non-alcoholic […]

A bad taste to this coffee?
Aug 25, 2024
Title
A bad taste to this coffee?
Excerpt

If you’ve had a cold drink at Starbucks recently and had a straw with it, the chances are […]

Who else knows?
Aug 12, 2024
Title
Who else knows?
Excerpt

If done properly, data analytics can provide valuable information to a company. There can however be some unplanned […]

KPMG partners cheated in exams.
Aug 06, 2024
Title
KPMG partners cheated in exams.
Excerpt

Ethics are pretty important if you’re a partner in an accounting firm. Unfortunately for these guys though they […]

Buttoning up Burberry: directors’ share purchases
Aug 05, 2024
Title
Buttoning up Burberry: directors’ share purchases
Excerpt

Would you buy shares in the company you work for? Whilst this would no doubt depend on numerous […]

Don’t get angry over anger management
Jul 31, 2024
Title
Don’t get angry over anger management
Excerpt

Have you ever been angry at work? If you have then you are not alone. The latest Global […]