Cultural Training, Part 1

[FLASHBACK]

Monday, February 9^th

Today was our first day of cultural training.  It was a good time to take it, now that we have been here for a month and have some good questions to ask, like "Why do pedestrians not have the right-of-way?" and "What do I do when the older lady falls asleep on me in the subway?".  It was also the last day of Chinese New Year, so our trainer brought over a traditional food, which was a big salad.  It comes on a tray with all the ingredients separated (each one represents something), and then you mix the salad together with your chopsticks, tossing it as high as you can.  He kept encouraging us to “Toss the salad, toss the salad!” and I kept giggling – apparently the euphemism “tossing your salad” doesn’t have the same meaning here.

Some of the more interesting tidbits we picked up today:

1.)  History in a paragraph:  In the 13th century, the prince of Srivijaya names the island Singa-Pura, meaning "Lion City" even though lions have never existed on the island (he probably saw a tiger).  Skip ahead to 1819, Stamford Raffles arrives in Singapore to establish a trading post for the British East India Company.  February 15, 1942:  British Forces in Singapore surrender to the Imperial Japanese Army.  August 15, 1945:  Japan surrenders to the Allies.  May 1959:  Lee Kuan Yew becomes Singapore's first Prime Minister at the age of 36.  1963:  Malaya, Singapore, Sabah, and Sarawak merge and become Malaysia.  August 9th, 1965:  The Malaysian Parliment votes to expel Singapore from the Federation; Singapore becomes independant.

2.)  Singapore's Five Shared Values:  Nation before community and society before self;  Family as the basic unit of society;  Community support and respect for the individual;  Consensus, not conflict;  Racial and religious harmony.

These values exhibit themselves in some interesting ways.  In the support of family, the government hosts singles' cruises in order to help people meet and get married.  You also cannot live in government housing (as 85% of the population does) unless you are married.  Or over the age of 35.  They start to feel sorry for you at that time, I guess.

Racial Harmony:  75% of the population is of Chinese decent, 15% is Malaysian, 7% is Indian, and 3% is "Other".  All the government housing keeps this ratio.  If you're Malaysian and there is already 15% in the building, you'll have to find a different place to live.  This is supposed to prevent communities from completely segregating themselves from each other.  In addition, everyone gets a public holiday.  All Singaporeans get New Year's Day, Labour Day and National Day (August 9th); the Chinese get Chinese New Year; the Christians get Good Friday and Christmas Day; the Indians get Vesak Day and Deepavali; and the Muslims get Hari Raya Puasa and Hari Raya Haji.

Nation before community:  Every male has to spend two years in military service after high school.  Females don't have to go, which results in some interesting test scores in your freshman year of college.  Since the girls havent been away from school for two years, they tend to score much better than the guys who haven't studied in a while.

3.)  The National Flag:

Red symbolises universal brotherhood and equality of men; white, purity and virtue.  The crescent moon represents a young nation on the rise.  The five stars stand for democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality.

4.)  Confucianism still has a big influence in society here, including hierarchal system:  Soverign to subject, elder to younger sibling, parent to child, and husband to wife.  People are valued, but everyone is not the same.

5.)  Singapore is New Money, so outward appearance is very important, including wearing big labels (shoes, sunglasses, purses).  In addition, there are the Five C's of Singapore:  Credit Card (what color, ie. Black AmEx), Compensation (how much money you make), Club (which one you belong to), Car (if you own one and what kind it is), and Condominium (which one you live in).

6.)  Small Talk Taboos:  Being critical of Singapore, the "Malay-Subject", freedom of the press, sexuality, praising oneself, and the roles of different ethnic groups.  Acceptable Small Talk:  Compliments about Singapore, sports (as long as it's soccer, preferrably Manchester United or Liverpool), complaining, work, shopping, holiday trips, food/drink, education and money.

7.)  Non-Verbal Communications:  No body contact between members of the opposite sex, generally keep arm's length distance, don't pat children on the head, don't point at somebody with your forefinger, don't hit your right fist on your left palm, and don't wave somebody over with your palm up - use palm-down only.

Tomorrow is Cultural Training and Business Communications, or. "Don't Ever EVER Call Someone Out In A Group Meeting".