Evaluating Intercultural Behavior

It was just another bus ride and three gentlemen were seated opposite of me. The three men were engaged in friendly and cheerful banter which caught my attention amidst the otherwise mundane bus ride. More interestingly, not all of the men were locals. Two of them were foreign workers (possibly from Thailand/Myanmar) and only one was a Singaporean.

Their conversation encompassed a wide range of topics, from poking fun at each other’s mistakes at work, to discussions on the fastest ways to get to various places in Singapore and many more. It was a jovial setting which was punctuated with frequent giggles and laughter.

Personally, it is always a heart-warming moment when I see individuals of different cultures hitting it off with one another, especially in a heterogeneous and cosmopolitan society such as Singapore. Amidst all the recent discussions about social integration in Singapore, such occurrences provide a positive bit of evidence that foreigners can indeed integrate into our society.

Even in this microcosm, there are surprisingly many aspects of effective inter-cultural communication that can be gleaned from it. First and foremost, the willingness of the foreign workers to interact with the locals is definitely commendable, especially when you consider that they could have simply chosen to mix with their fellow countrymen. By opening up to the local culture, however, these foreign workers will probably find it easier to assimilate into the workplace and society and conversely, for them to be accepted by others.

In this little episode, I also observed several “cultural universals” at play in the communication process. “Cultural universals” are defined as “learned behaviour patterns that are shared by all of humanity collectively”. One of which was the usage of an appropriate verbal language for communication, albeit a peculiar one – Singlish. In this particular setting, as the foreign workers were not very proficient in English, the usage of Singlish probably helped to overcome some barriers in communication. Not only is Singlish easier to understand, it often conveys a sense of informality which can help to foster a more positive atmosphere.

It was a pleasant surprise to note that a seemingly insignificant episode on a bus ride could actually throw up a number of pertinent points regarding inter-cultural communication. Effective inter-cultural communication is an important contributing factor towards social integration and it is my personal wish for everyone to work hard at that, towards a more cohesive Singapore!