What is more of a concern is the threat to the stability of the person’s own culture. In the efforts to prevent intercultural misunderstandings and to promote better cohesiveness, every culture must first acknowledge the differences. Changing or stooping one’s cultural attitudes is in no way acknowledging the differences; instead, it will only form one universal communication culture which defeats the purpose for intercultural cohesiveness in the first place.
I have spoken in “Singlish” to some foreigners before and they felt irritated. However, this is in fact a good sign of interpersonal communication. His irritated expression was a good feedback to me. I acted accordingly by apologising first and then stating that it is a part of my culture. This in turn became feedback to him, and he understood and consequently tolerated it. The integrity of both of our cultures was intact and we still became good friends.
One’s culture must not attempt to influence another in order for good cultural ties; consequently, one’s culture must not be influenced into complementing another.
Below is just a small clip of how faking an accent in the hopes of making a good impression ends up making a bad one instead.
Hi Junius,
ReplyDeleteYour funny video really a good example of changing one's culture to fit another culture and I totally agree with you in the point that sometimes people change their communcation behavior will make the other cultures feel uncomfortable. However, it is just the situation that the two cultures have already acknowledged the differences. In some cases, people should change their communication behavior when talk to someone who know nothing about their culture. Your experience of using Singlish with foreigners is an example. Because they did not expect that you would speak Singlish and they also did not know the differences between Singlish and English, they feel uncomfortable for the first time
Well said Junius! I myself, am guilty of dropping Singlish in front of foreigners. Though Singlish is by and large, an evident part of Singapore culture, it is important that we accommodate and compromise when speaking to the non-locals.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I beg to differ when you mentioned that a "universal communication culture" would emerge as a result of changing one's cultural habits or behaviour. Though the world is ever changing, and becoming more globalised, culture requires something more than just temporary adjustments to the behaviour. Through thousands of years, the conservative nature of the Asians, and more liberal ones of the westerners still have not changed drastically. It takes a major ‘cultural revolution’, or a paradigm shift in the thinking of individuals to do that.
Therefore in my opinion, we should remain conscious of differing cultures and embrace these differences. At the same time, we should do our part in safeguarding our own culture for the future generations.
Hi Junius,
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I would like to say that there is a good flow in your post. You had two points to make and you made them in two different paragraphs. It was clear. However, you could have added a picture or video between the paragraphs so that it takes our attention away from all the words for a moment and does not make it look wordy.
I am afraid I have a differing opinion on your second point. I believe that small changes have to be made to our culture in order put the differences aside and get along with different cultures. For example, if singlish is our culture then as you said we have to change the way we speak when dealing with foreigners so that they do not get annoyed or feel disrespected. I am not talking about drastic changes but little changes that can make a difference.
Hi Junius,
ReplyDeleteI like the position you took for this topic of intercultural communication. Many of us had wrote about how we have to compromise and be sensitive towards the others, but we missed out the point that we should not change our own cultural to meet the others. Well done!
However, I agree with Ganesh that your entry seems to be very wordy. Perhaps you could use sub-headings to keep us focused on each of your paragraphs. In addition, maybe you could consider improving your blog template. I think it is alright to have a black colour background, but perhaps adding more colours or pictures to the blog would make it more vibrant and attractive.
I can see that you have put in efforts in your thoughts to come up with something unique. Also, there is significant improvement in the grammatical errors made in this entry. Good job!
Regards,
Jing Mei
Hi Junius,
ReplyDeleteYou have taken a completely different stand while writing this post. I, like most others, was led by the misconception that inter-cultural communication is all about acclimatising yourself to different cultures. You have provided a whole new perspective that deals with preserving your identity and culture while dealing with new ones. I believe both views,yours and mine, are vital for constructive inter cultural communication.
Personally, I think Singlish sets Singaporeans aside from the crowd and it is nothing to be ashamed of. During my initial few months in Singapore I did find the accent a bit difficult to comprehend but its a lot easier now. I found it very surprising that most locals found 'Singlish' embarrassing ! I hope people learn to appreciate themselves and their culture better.
-Lakshmi
Most of the comments mentioned that even though the difference in culture did not prevent me and the foreigner from becoming friends, it did however pose an initial obstacle. I agree with this. However, another problem occurred to me. Who should complement the other? If both sides try to express themselves with each other’s culture, the situation might get very awkward. Also, one might think that the other should oblige to do so. This in turn causes friction.
ReplyDeleteI believe that everyone should first act in the capacity as a person first. With that in mind, a foreigner visiting another country would show respect to the local culture, likewise, the locals would show respect to them. This form of respect is not one that extends from everyone’s cultural body, but rather from the stand of a human being. The foreigner’s form of respect is not expecting complementation from the locals while the local’s form of respect is not to complement the foreigners.
Justin, after reading your comment, I do see your point and agree with you. However, I would like to explain how I arrived at that statement in the first place. One example that led me to it was how pop culture is slowly transcending all other cultures. As technology advances, global social networking entering mainstream and more Multinational Corporations emerge, it seems undeniable that the unification of cultures is happening now, though like what you said, it has not happened yet.
I have noted that my post was indeed wordy though not exceeding the recommended length. I will note the advice given and guarantee a different approach to subsequent posts.
Lastly, I would like to conclude by saying that one should not take the stand that everyone’s culture is different; instead they should take the stand that everyone is different, and thus, realise that everyone is similar.
Hi everyone. In my last comment, I mentioned on the wordiness of the post. I think it would be a good idea to add a picture or two now so as not to put people off and prevent them from reading
ReplyDelete