Culture not only constitutes language, food, clothes, and
tradition, but it also includes common shared beliefs, ways of thinking, and
worldview. With all the racial harmony programmes back in school, I know the
food, clothes and traditions of other culture, but I dare not claim that I have
understood them. To understand culture, we need to go deeper than what is on
the surface.
To complicate things further, sub-cultures may exist within
communities, and even families. For
example, there is a touch-and-kiss culture within my family, so limited to my
family that even my cousins rarely practise it. We have to touch-and kiss when
we kicked someone, accidentally or not, by touching the person, and kissing our
fingers. This shows that we respect the other person. My sisters and I do this very naturally, while
some of my cousins have not even heard of it!
It is important to respect other cultures, especially in a
multicultural country like Singapore. I remember
how an aunt of mine kept criticizing our family’s culture (e.g. the food we
eat, and the way we dressed) when she recently got married into the family. This
was unexpected of her since we belong to the same culture. Perhaps, she behaved
this way because she came from another country. Nonetheless, her comments made some of us very
upset, leading to conflicts within the family.
We managed to solve most of the conflicts by explaining to her
how our family ‘operates’. We also tried to take care of her likes and dislikes
especially when it came to the issue of food.
I then realised that everyone values their culture, and feel
that it is better than that of others. However, we should try to fit into the
culture of the family (or company) we just joined. Along the way, we can slowly
make changes if we feel that the other culture has room for improvement. People
have always been resistant to revolutionary changes, but mild improvements are
always welcomed. Hence, if we feel a need to change certain things about other
cultures, we should do it positively, focusing on the benefits of our ideas
instead of the disadvantages of the other culture.
Respect matters.
Shameem :)
