Evaluating intercultural behavior
Having settled in Singapore for two years, I found that
Singapore is a very diverse and intercultural country where there is no single
set of culturally acceptable behaviors. Ever since I came to Singapore, I have
encountered misunderstanding intercultural communications for several times. There
was one time which still remains fresh in my memory.
Back then, it was one week after I came to Singapore. A
couple of friends went to a local kopptiam food court. After enjoying the delicious
food, I tried to order a cup of coffee. Then I went to the drink stop and
asked,
“Auntie, could I have a cup of latte?”
Then her face seemed to be quite confused. I thought maybe
it was because I did not pronounce the word “Latte” clearly due to my Chinese
accent. So, I asked a second time,
“Auntie, could I have a cup of La—tte—?”
Then the auntie responded, “ What do you want? Ko—pi— or
teh?”
I actually did not get what she said and insisted saying,
“ I want latte! Coffee with milk!!”
Then she said, “What do you want? kopi-c siew dai?”
It was my turn to be confused. At that moment I was thinking
“what ko—pi #@$%^is?!” I said to myself maybe it was a special drink in
Singapore. Then I just said, “Yes, please give me that.”
After that I learned from my Singaporean friend that kopi-c siew dai is actually a mixed
language of Malay and Cantonese. Kopi-c
means coffee with milk and siew dai
means less sugar. Then I knew that ordering coffee or tea in Singapore is very
special which needs several languages.
Having lived here for two years, I feel that it is getting
smoother to integrate myself into this multicultural society. Although
sometimes I still feel a little bit uncomfortable when encountering
intercultural misunderstandings, I did learn to respect the culture instead of
judging or hating it. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”, it is always good to
hold a positive attitude instead of scolding or complaining. There is still a
long way to go and get involved in this society since I will stay in Singapore for
quite a few years. One of my friends said to me that actually Singaporeans all
have their needs here already; so, they will not bother trying to reach out for
more friends, which shocked me and also help me realize that it is so true and we will never
get to know them more unless we step out our comfort zone and embrace the
brand-new culture here.
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回复删除I like your phrase: When in Rome, do as what the Romans do. Indeed, ordering food and beverages in Singapore is an art of mixing different languages and dialects together.
回复删除As for the part that you mention about Singaporeans not bothering to try reaching out for more friends, I beg to differ this point. It is true that needs of Singaporeans are satisfied locally, we are aware that as part of the global community, we might find ourselves working and living in foreign land. By then we should not hesitate to make friends and live cohesively with the local community.
Speaking a common language with the locals is often regarded as the first step of building friendships and bonds. I have a friend who was once in the French Double Degree Programme and he stated the importance of mastering French back then in NUS before going to France as the Frenchmen are proud of their culture and language. In order to befriend the French, it is important for them to feel that one is putting effort to learn their language. :)
Hi XuDong,
回复删除Truthfully i do not know what is Kopi-siew dai as well so im glad that i'm enlighten now!
But to be safe usually i just say "kopi" haha.
I think that this miscommunication results in the lack of understanding between the phrases used in different countries.
My friend who is currently studying at Australia told me that although they speak English there as well they use phrases different from Singaporeans.
For example, "Prang" to them means " accident", "plonk" means "Cheap wine" and " Chokkie" means " chocolate" .
I guess in order to avoid miscommunication such as this, one would have to immerse and slowly take the time to understand all the different phrases used in that countries through try-and-error. There is no hard and fast rule sadly so i do wish you all the best in that ! (:
Evelyn
Hi Xudong,
回复删除I am glad that you are taking an effort to learn the ways of Singaporean culture. I can imagine how difficult that is given the current ground sentiment towards foreigners nowadays.
There are many things that I feel could have been done better when it comes to developing a more conducive environment for intercultural interaction in our university particularly in engineering. My observation is that many Singaporeans like to stay within their own groups. The same goes for China Chinese and India Indians with this group mentality.
I think what the solution to the problem is a need for people to break out from these groups and adventure out to talk and interact with people from diverse backgrounds. This is apparently not happening enough which leads to ill conceived stereotypes and that is detrimental to university culture.
Anthony