This incident is not one which I'm proud of. The story goes like this:
Back in my secondary school days, I used to hang out with a bunch of friends. There was this time when we were out together and while we were crossing the road just outside Peninsula Plaza, we saw a middle-age man wearing a turban. Immediately, my friend gave me a pinch on the arm and exclaimed, "What colour?! What colour?!" This was our "ritual"- whenever we see a person wearing a turban, we have to say the colour of the turban. Whoever doesn't say on time or says the wrong colour, gets an excruciating pinch on the arm. (Click here for an illustration)
Being immature and oblivious teenagers back then, we thought it was rather hilarious but it proved otherwise. Amidst our mini "ritual", the man came stomping towards us with his face cringed. I was trying to figure out what he was saying though the background noise seemed to drown his words. However, as he closed in, his voice became more distinct and audible. I was scared stiff. Never in my life had I heard a person utter such expletives with such speed.
He brought us to the side of the road and confronted us, demanding to see our student ID. His face wasn't a tinged relaxed. His bloodshot eyes and stern bellowing voice said it all - we were in trouble. ...
In retrospect, what my friends and I did was immature and culturally insensitive. Not only did we cross cultural lines but the religious line as well. Our actions would bitter the relationships between the different racial entities in society and "burn the bridges" of intercultural communication. We were in fact encroaching into his personal sphere of practicing his own culture and religion. Instead, we should have practiced cultural relativism in a multicultural society such as Singapore.
Before we have engaged into a conversation with the man, my friends and I had already created a barrier for effective communication by our rude gestures. Hence, for effective communication, there is no room for ethnocentrism and one need to have a proper disposition by maintaining respect for the other. Indeed, learning to be empathetic and taking into account the complexities of human relationships and cultures are hallmarks of an effective communicator.
Back in my secondary school days, I used to hang out with a bunch of friends. There was this time when we were out together and while we were crossing the road just outside Peninsula Plaza, we saw a middle-age man wearing a turban. Immediately, my friend gave me a pinch on the arm and exclaimed, "What colour?! What colour?!" This was our "ritual"- whenever we see a person wearing a turban, we have to say the colour of the turban. Whoever doesn't say on time or says the wrong colour, gets an excruciating pinch on the arm. (Click here for an illustration)
Being immature and oblivious teenagers back then, we thought it was rather hilarious but it proved otherwise. Amidst our mini "ritual", the man came stomping towards us with his face cringed. I was trying to figure out what he was saying though the background noise seemed to drown his words. However, as he closed in, his voice became more distinct and audible. I was scared stiff. Never in my life had I heard a person utter such expletives with such speed.
He brought us to the side of the road and confronted us, demanding to see our student ID. His face wasn't a tinged relaxed. His bloodshot eyes and stern bellowing voice said it all - we were in trouble. ...
In retrospect, what my friends and I did was immature and culturally insensitive. Not only did we cross cultural lines but the religious line as well. Our actions would bitter the relationships between the different racial entities in society and "burn the bridges" of intercultural communication. We were in fact encroaching into his personal sphere of practicing his own culture and religion. Instead, we should have practiced cultural relativism in a multicultural society such as Singapore.
Before we have engaged into a conversation with the man, my friends and I had already created a barrier for effective communication by our rude gestures. Hence, for effective communication, there is no room for ethnocentrism and one need to have a proper disposition by maintaining respect for the other. Indeed, learning to be empathetic and taking into account the complexities of human relationships and cultures are hallmarks of an effective communicator.
Hi Mario,
ReplyDeleteA very culturally sensitive scenario, especially one that is so close to home. I have to say that the added link was quite a bonus. The comic was quite funny, but probably not culturally sensitive. Oh well, its talkingcock.com.
Being in a country with so many different cultures, we do need to learn how to respect each other's culture. I'm sure that people of other cultures would have made jokes of our own culture as well. I guess that we should all just learn to take it in our stride and laugh it off. The country or even the world could be a better, more fun place.
However, although I feel that some humour is alright, jokes that are meant as an insult should not be tolerated as much. We do need to know when some jokes borders on insult and we should learn to draw the line.
You ended your post quite interestingly, being able to link your story back to our module on communication. Not bad!
Anyway, you and your friends should have just lowered your voices.
Cheers,
Glenn
Hi Mario,
ReplyDeleteIt is an interesting story, so is the comic. I don't quite know some words in the scripts but I can understand what's going on.
It is as common to come across people of different races In Singapore as to come across people from different cities in China. I believe there is no hostility when teenagers playing this game. In China it is not a big deal if children from Southern China play jokes on those from North. But in Singapore,one should be extra careful not to cross the cultural lines.
On another hand, people may also show more tolerance to each other, especially when the other party is not aware of the offend.
Cheers,
June