In Singapore, citizens tend to
stereotype the cultural differences by race, into Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasians. These stereotyped differences
can lead to misunderstandings. As my best friend, Denise, is half
Chinese and half Indian, her features of a darker skin tone coupled with wavy
hair have often led to a number of interesting encounters. One particular
encounter struck me and got me thinking.
We were at the Hong Kong Xin Wang cafe to celebrate the
end of our finals. There was this particular dish - luncheon meat noodles which
the waitress introduced and upon doing so, she realized and immediately apologized
saying that it contained pork. She then went on to promote all the other
non-pork dishes. Clearly, she had mistaken Denise for a Malay. When Denise
replied using fluent mandarin, she was stunned and her eyes were wide in
bewilderment. In addition, upon
learning that Denise is able to converse in Mandarin, she began to talk to her
very slowly in Mandarin using a weird accent. There were times when even I
couldn't understand what she was trying to say as well.
Denise was initially a little offended as she felt that the
waitress doubted her Chinese language proficiency by deliberately conversing
with her in a different manner from how others would normally speak. Fortunately,
she was able to look at it in a different light subsequently given that she had
encountered quite a number of similar incidents prior to this.
This led me to think that if Denise were to take it seriously, it could have possibly led to an unnecessary heated argument that could have been prevented. The waitress should have been more sensitive to
such intercultural differences not only to Denise, but more so to everyone else
in the society. Furthermore, the fact that she is in the service sector makes
it an even more pertinent issue.
While it is normal to develop certain perceptions of an individual
based on his/her appearance, background and actions, we have to be sensitive
and mindful not to overgeneralize and jump straight into conclusions in order
to prevent conflicts. Every individual is unique and therefore we should be
open-minded and accept differences among individuals to maintain a harmonious
society which we all live in.
Hi Rachel
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you that the locals tend to stereotype people based on their appearances, especially when Singapore is well known for its multi-racial culture. This is a sensitive issue which most, if not all, residents in Singapore have to deal with. Otherwise, insensitive remarks would have disastrous consequences.
Growing up in Singapore exposes me to such culture at a young age, and I have to admit that I do determine someone's race based on his or her appearances such as skin colour. Hence, it is not surprising that the waitress mistook Denise as a Malay given her darker skin tone. I think she was being overly cautious when handling the situation, instead of being insensitive, which caused the unhappiness.
As marriages between different races have become increasingly common, it is more difficult to differentiate one's race based on appearance alone. Being too insensitive or overly sensitive may cause unhappiness. Hence, I feel that it is best to embrace this issue with an open mind. On one hand, try not to stereotype a someone’s race, while try not to take it to heart when encountering such a situation.
I hope my personal opinions give you more insights regarding intercultural behavior.
Cheers
Liying
Hey Liying,
DeleteThanks for your insights! I totally agree with them and initially had the same thoughts as you while I was writing this post too. However, due to the word count constraints, I left out some of the points which you thankfully mentioned over here in your comment.
Regarding your point on marriages between different races, I have known a couple whereby the guy is a Malay and the girl a Chinese. As we all know, it is required for the girl to change her religion to Muslim if she married the guy. There were several disagreements between them from what I heard, and just because of religion they could not see eye to eye as the girl did not think it was justified to change her religion. Personally, I feel that this boils down to whether one is able to have an open mind and be receptive - like what you have mentioned. We also on the other hand have to note that religion is something that can't be forced and we have to respect individuals with differing beliefs and religions. It is therefore up to them to communicate effectively amongst themselves to solve this pertinent issue.
Cheers,
Rachel
Hi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that if your friend were to get very affected by it, things would have turn sour and ended up with a heated argument. I have family members who are mixed-blood as well and they can speak Chinese and even hokkien too. Such situations happened to them before as well. I believe it is quite common for people to stereotype. This is definitely something that we should not support. I strongly feel that we should have an open mind and be sensitive to the feelings of others'. Being judgmental and forming first impressions unto others is definitely not the way to go. It is unfair to be judged by others, just because you have a different skin tone or you have a different accent. We should respect others for who they are and learn to communicate with them effectively while understanding and appreciating their culture. These are important in maintaining racial and religious harmony, in a cosmopolitan country like Singapore. I hope your friend is facing less of such problems now.
Cheers,
Cass
Hey Cass,
DeleteThanks for your comment! Unfortunately, my friend still occasionally does face such situations/receive stereotypical comments.Generally, people are still very prone to stereotyping people based on their appearances today. I believe this is not only prevalent in our society, but others as well. Perhaps the media has a role to play in this - all the exposure to the imagery and doings of others. However, I'm glad that over the years, she has taken these events more and more lightheartedly and sometimes even derive amusement from it.
I totally agree with your point of views, as I find that they are aligned with what I mentioned in my blog post.
Cheers,
Rachel