Culture as we all know is dependent on the environment we grow
up and the exposure we experiences. Different individuals with different
cultures will react differently to the same situation. I think it is
interesting to observe the how people of different culture response. Sometimes,
their responses can also be a learning lesson for us.
I have a cousin who had migrated over to New Zealand since she
was young. She came back to Singapore last year for vacation and I had to bring
her around for sightseeing. The first time I saw her at the airport, she had
the Caucasian look even though she is a true Chinese. When she greeted me with
a hug, I was actually feeling a little uncomfortable cause I was not close to her
at all. In fact, we had not contacted each other for the past ten years.
This is not the only weird moment I had with her. There was
another occasion when we took the bus back together and the first thing she did
on the bus was to greet the bus driver. It was really nice of her to do that
but it was something out of the norm in Singapore and sure enough everyone on
the bus starred at her.
It makes me wonder whether we Singaporeans are lacking some social
politeness. How many of us will smile or say, “thank you” to the
cashiers/servers in a restaurant? I doubt not many of the Singaporeans will do
that. Personally, I think that we may have the mentality that those in the
service industry are suppose to serve us and we are paying them for the
service. Hence, we may have taken their service for granted and neglected about
the rules of conduct in a society.
What is your opinion about it?
