Evaluating Intercultural Differences
I once pass by a coffee shop when I heard a commotion between an old man and a young lady. The old man speaks only hokkien and was presumably a Singaporean customer. The young lady was a Chinese national working at a chicken rice stall. Apparently, the old man made his order entirely with hokkien and it seems that the young lady misinterpreted his order with her limited proficiency in her newly acquired language. The old man refuses to pay for the wrong order. I stood there and observe as the commotion gets more and more heated. In the end, another man came into scene, which I assume was the boss of the chicken rice stall. He defuses the situation with profuse apologies and acceded to the old man’s request.In light of the increasing trend of foreign employer in all sectors of the economy, there is an infusion of diverse cultural norms. Intercultural difference comes not only between the different racial groups, but also between Singaporeans and foreign talents. It would pose a challenge when cultural norms clashes with each other head on. As can be seen from the above mentioned incident, the old man represents the behavioural and cultural norms of Singapore, and the young lady represents that of the foreign country. Different attitudes and values emerge from their respective upbringing in their own culture and the language chasm differentiates the diverse viewpoints even more causing misunderstanding to occur. Perhaps the incident also shows that there is a need for the locals to gradually adjust their mentality. The deeply engrained cultural norms have to coincide and align with the tide of globalization. With globalization, Singapore can expect to have an influx of foreign talent which not only competes for occupational opportunities, but also living space and resources. The local have to understand that there is a need for such influx to keep the country running smoothly. We have to accept that fact and ensure that in the future such intercultural differences must be amicably resolved.
Lastly, I would like to share the following picture with you. This picture depicts not only intercultural differences but also the various non-verbal cues (NVCs). For the interpretation of the NVCs, please visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/prakharevich/1545893326/ . You can scroll over the picture for the interpretation.
posted by Joanna @ 9:13 PM
4 Comments:
Dear Joanna,
I believe that most misunderstandings that arise due to language barriers can actually be easily resolved. All it requires, is just for one party to make the extra effort to grasp the true, intended message being conveyed and not to just assume the content of the message. This would apply, in the incident that you have mentioned in your post. If the female attendant of the chicken rice stall had make an effort to seek help from someone else who is actually capable of understanding Hokkien, she would not placed the wrong order, avoiding the commotion that eventually followed.
What would truly pose as a greater issue for Singapore, would be the differences between the beliefs and the set of values of the various cultures, or even subcultures. Therefore, I concur with you strongly that Singaporeans need to adjust their mindset, to be more open to traits and practices of foreigners residing in Singapore. This is essential as conflicts arising between subculture might affect Singapore’s ability to prosper and grow as a nation.
Hi Joanna,
This sounds like a common misunderstanding of other people's language. The Chinese lady should not have assumed the order. Like they say, when you "ASSUME, you make an ass of you and me." This problem can be easily solved by simply asking when in doubt with a foreign language.
However, there is another threat with the influx of foreign workers and their language. There has been discussion as to the differences between the India Indian and the Singapore Indian. They are both of the same ethnicity, but their cultural values can be so much different now. The same can be said about the Chinese. We have such a different culture from the China Chinese, no doubt due to the influence of the Western culture. Care has to be taken in this aspect to avoid a culture clash.
Hi Joanna!
The example that you have shown is very relevant in Singapore. I often have to act as a translator because the elderly will approach me to help translate their Hokkien or Chinese language in English language when they need to talk to people of other races.
I agree with you that with an increasing trend of foreigners coming over to Singapore to work or study, cultural norms can clash with each other. Just recently, there was uproar over the plans to turn the former Serangoon Gardens Technical School in Burghley Drive into a hostel for 1,000 foreign workers. It was met with protests from the residents. They said that they are unable to accept some of the living habits of these foreign workers. Although there is presence of intercultural differences, we must understand that we do need to live with them as these foreign workers are vital to the development of Singapore Thus we should change our mindsets and try to accept them and also learn to understand their cultural norms. No matter what is done to tackle the problem of where the foreign workers should live or what facilities to be built for them, without a true acceptance of them from us, the intercultural differences between us can never be resolved.
Hi Joanna,
Your post on the employment of foreign worker is very relevant to the current working world.
My dad has 3 China workers. He always complains to me that his workers are 'damn jialat'. But after I asked his workers why do they work so slowly, they explained that they are from the rural areas of China, and their main form of income is farming, whereby they are used to working slowly.
After hearing this, I became more understanding and decided to talk to my father about it. My father answered 'so are you working in Singapore or China'. But I guess these workers would soon pick up the fast-paced working style in Singapore, else they will face danger of being sent back to their agents.
I think this is a sad fact about human nature. The worker is forced to do stuff. Do you think there is a better method to make them pick up our working style?
Darren
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