Intercultural Differences

Culture is something that cannot be defined clearly. There are many different ways one can classify culture e.g. politics. In my case, I strongly believe in using the metaphor “culture iceberg” to describe culture. There is much more to culture than meets the eye.

This incident took place several years ago, when I was on a vacation trip in Taiwan during the presidential election. The conflict took place while I was queuing up for my food at one of the stalls at a night market in Taiwan. While I was queuing, one of the presidential candidates, Mr. Ma Ying-jeou, appeared at the night market campaigning.

I heard this male Singaporean making a comment regarding the politics of Taiwan. He said “why are the politics in Taiwan so messy and low-class.” He spoke so loudly that I could hear him despite being at least 2 tables away. All of a sudden, a Taiwanese lady sitting beside him stood up and started scolding in mandarin. She recognized immediately that the guy was from Singapore due to the English that he spoke. She argued that Singapore is just a "puny" country and that Singaporeans have no rights in commenting on Taiwan’s politics. The conflict between the 2 different nationalities started, criticizing each other’s politics, governments, cultural behavior and even on clothing. The conflict ended when friends pulled both of them away, stopping them from carrying on.

At that point in time, I felt that there was a very strong cultural difference between a Singaporean and Taiwanese despite both being a Chinese. The difference in the way we were brought up and taught shapes the cultural behavior, mentality of a person and even the perspectives on politics.

As a Singaporean, I felt quite ashamed yet proud. I felt ashamed as my fellow Singaporean is not sensitive and is unaware of the cultural difference between the 2 countries. Studies have shown that Singaporeans are apathy towards politics but this "culture" does not apply to all countries. Having an active politics does not necessary mean that it is “messy and low-class". Even if he despised the cultural environment in Taiwan, he should have kept the remark to himself. On the other hand, the Singaporean guy debated with the Taiwanese proudly, and had all praises for Singapore. This shows that Singaporeans do have a sense of pride for the nation.