The intercultural scenario I am discussing would be the interaction between a Chinese, Malay, Indian and Latino-American. The issues brought out were the concept of time and the use of right hand to eat.
The Malays and Indians do not use their left hands for anything because they believe the left hand is unclean. They insist on eating with their hands, instead of using cutlery, because they believe food eaten this way tastes much better. On the other hand, the Chinese cannot understand why they have to eat with their hands when there are cutlery available. It can even be considered unhygienic by the Chinese.
The difference in cultural values between the Latino-Americans and Singaporeans is the concept of time. Singaporeans usually value the importance of time and are usually on time. For the Latino-Americans, they are usually not on time and are not apologetic when they are late because it is their social norm.
As you can see, misunderstandings are bound to occur if there is no proper communications between people from different cultural backgrounds. The social norm in one country may be considered taboo in another country. If there is no proper communications, resentment will build up due to the lack of understanding. In view of this, it is necessary to voice out the differences in cultural values so there can be a cultural exchange which will lead to an increase in mutual understanding. Understanding does not necessarily mean agreeing. Understanding just means one knows where the other is coming from. As such, one must be tactful because there is no right or wrong.
For me, I think breakdown in communications is usually due to inaccurate assumptions. For example, humans usually commit the mistake of assuming everyone else must be like him/her. As such, they have a basic expectation of others because they use themselves as a benchmark. However, in reality, everyone is different. For effective communication to occur, the element of mutual discovery with no judgement should ideally be present.
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Hi Kalene,
ReplyDeleteFinally you have a shorter post!
Yup, I believe that sometimes human think the greater of themselves and assumes things that is inaccurate. We shall never assume what and how the other culture is like. Instead, we should appreciate the other cultures and learn to understand them.
I was impressed when I uploaded my post and realised it's finally short. LOL!
ReplyDeleteYup. Appreciation of differences is important. Only when we start to appreciate, then would we take the step to learn to understand. (n_n)
Hi kalene,
ReplyDeleteI feel that humans often assume that the behaviours and actions most often done by a particular stereotype that they observed. They would then unknowingly assume that all other people of that stereotype would do the same behaviour as the person they observed. This (similarity heuristic) is obviously wrong and it must be corrected. Only then could it lead to effective intercultural communication.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI agree that “If there is no proper communications, resentment will build up due to the lack of understanding”. This is so true, however not everyone like to voice out their concerns as for instance maybe to prevent any inconvenience cause. Thus, it would be good to be proactive and sensitive to each other non-verbal expressions as well.
This is a good write up! :)
Hey Kalene,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that most of us do commit the mistake of judging others based on our own standards. Using your case as an example, the concept of time by Singaporeans is so much different from the Latino-Americans. Though personally, i feel that being late should not be a culture norm.
In this case, do i commit the same mistake as i have just mentioned? In fact, i have unknowingly committed the mistake. The point i wish to bring out is it is wrong to judge other cultures based on our own's but it is a mistake that is inevitable because environment that we live in affects our perceptions of issues.
By the way, I am a left-hander and i feel that my left hand is more clean than my right hand! Haha!
Cheers!
Johny
It's really interesting how cultural practice vary with the perceptions of different groups of people. Maybe our class can start a subculture if we come to a consensus on certain way of doing things. For example have breakfast in class with Christine every Monday. If we all believe that conferencing over food will bond people and facilitate discussion, and put away the notion that eating in class is impolite, then there will be no misunderstanding.
ReplyDeleteHie Ethel,
ReplyDeleteHave you read "Tuesdays with Morrie"? It is my favourite book and your suggestion to start a subculture reminds me of Morrie.
Haha. Are you often hungry in class? Maybe you can try suggesting your idea (albeit just an example) to Christine and let's see what her response is. LOL!
hello Kalene!
ReplyDeleteI read Tuesdays with Morrie but I think I did not complete the book though because I lost interest in Morrie's advice after some time. haha! I loved The Five People You Meet in Heaven by the same author though!
[I wrote this on March 5, but my computer must have been acting funny and not posting.]
ReplyDelete"Understanding does not necessarily mean agreeing."
Amen to that.
There used to be 'tolerance' campaigns back home. We always thought that was a
stupid word for such a case. We always thought 'acceptance' was more fitting.
Even the creator of Family Guy commented on this. He made the theme of a show
(as best I can remember) 'tolerance. That's it, just tolerate them... you
could be a total *&^^*#^$ for all we care; just don't do anything illegal.' Your article made me think of this.