Intercultural Communication

Culture is the out come of humans needing to form something bigger and beyond themselves; something for them to create exclusive and inclusive groups and to feel safe within. In the past, culture was rigid. A code of conduct passed down through the sands of time, governed by the masses on how individuals should and should not lived their lives. However, in recent years due to globalisation and the increasing power attained by government bodies, culture has become more and more fluid, as people all over the world start to move out of their limited circles and interact with the world. To some, this meant the 'tainting' of their culture; the contamination of their sacred beliefs. This has lead to the birth of extremists, willing to stop at none to propagate their ideals.

Through i have yet to meet an Kalashnikov totting, stocking clad, C4 strapped 'hero', cultural idealism came across to me in another way: Worshipping the white gods. As most of South East Asean countries were once under to rule of different colonial masters, many of us tend to view white people (most of us can't tell the difference between Europeans and Americans) to being superior to us. This is especially seen in the service line, when waiters, salegirls, bartenders, etc, tend to ignore the puny Asian and provide almost impeccable serivce to the whites. Barring the fact that white people tend to be more pleasant and chatty, and have a higher tendency to pay more for the same good, why is it that the white couple always get their rongole first, even though the order was obviously first made by the Asian couple sitting two rows down?

This is not simply just the result of being bias but a cultural mindset, passed down from our ancestors through their body language and tone when in the presence of and when describing white people respectively. Hence, even though much of our cultural roots have been lost over time, when various cultural boundries have turned into grey areas, many of us are still trapped in this colonial mindset that white people have an edge over us Asians, just because they were born white. So much for globalization and the era of cultural flexibility.

How does effective communication come into play here? Culture is passed down not only in writing but more so through our behaviours and lifestyles. For example, a Muslim kid would not understand the meaning behind fasting but does so because he or her parents do so. As such, they are trained from young to accept the fact that fasting is part of their culture; a side of their lives they cannot do without. Same goes for upholding white people. If we are able to effectively show, in body langauge (i.e. not standing in a subservient posture when interacting with a white person) and in our tone (i.e. not speaking patronisingly), this cultural inferiority could be erased over time.

Let's join our hands comrades and show that we're not below the whites!