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!
Hi my fellow teammate,
ReplyDeleteIt seems that we think alike. I choose to talk about trains while you speak about your experience on the bus. The public transport system is indeed a good reflection of the intercultural dynamism of our society.
I am especially impressed with the power of “Singlish”. Even though the version of Singlish the three spoke in was probably a slightly modified version with a dash of thai added. Nevertheless, Singlish has shown its usefulness in not only providing Singaporeans overseas with a sense of familiarity when they meet fellow Singaporeans but now also serves as a glue to bridge the language barrier between different cultures.
Personally, I feel that a useful test to gauge the degree where a foreigner has integrated into the Singapore society is to test if he/she knows the exact differences in the usage of lah, leh, meh or hor at the end of a sentence. It is also equally surprising how quickly foreigners are able to mingle with the locals once they manage to correctly use these utterance in their conversations with the locals.
Unfortunately, such interaction between cultures is not as common as we hope for. People from the same culture tend to congregate together, forming diversity traps where one defines itself as distinct from others. However, as you have rightfully pointed out, if people spend more effort to engage in effective intercultural communications, our society can eventually be more cohesive.
Hey team mate
ReplyDeleteI do agree with your point about Singlish, and I feel that Singlish as a vernacular language has not only served as a distinction but also, in your case here, as an excellent social/cultural ice breaker.
However, I think the lack of interaction between Singaporeans and foreign workers isn't because they are unwilling to interact with us. The sad fact is that many locals see these foreign laborers as second class citizens, perhaps because of cultural differences. The culture and mannerism of these foreigners may have been viewed as being less sophisticated, and the locals may have defined these differences through oppositionality hence viewing them negatively.
Hello team mate!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading all our other classmates' posts about intercultural conflicts, I find it particularly interesting and pleasant that you chose to post about an instance of intercultural cohesiveness.
Sadly, I agree with KS and JY that intercultural synergy it wouldn't be easy to achieve in this case. Even if given a medium which is understandable to both cultures (in this case Singlish), I feel that effective communication will not take place because people are unwilling to communicate. This is probably due to the negative attitudes and beliefs that locals hold towards foreigners. It is unfortunate that these attitudes are deep rooted and hence hard to change. Unless something drastic happens which portrays foreigners in a positive light, I believe these attitudes will carry on for a long time.