Blog#4 Evaluating Intercultural Behavior

Hi Guys

Since I am a foreigner myself, I shall share my intercultural experience in Singapore.

Let me start off with greetings. In Hong Kong, we have the habit of greeting our family, neighbours, friends and colleagues ‘Good Morning’ in the morning. It is rude if we do not greet. In Hong Kong, we are taught to greet since young. In, fact I was scolded many times by my parents for forgetting to greet them in the morning. However, in Singapore, I think it is not so strict. Last year, I was working in an engineering company for my internship. When I greeted ‘Good Morning’ to the company staffs, they all looked shocked and seemed to be caught off guard.  It seemed to me that they had not expected the greeting and many only replied back after a while. And it was then I realized that the Singaporean staffs do not have the habit of greeting each other in the morning. Maybe this is not the norm, but generally I do not see many Singaporeans greeting in the morning.  However, this is not to say Singaporeans are rude, but maybe the habit of greeting is not common in Singapore.

My hobby is eating and I really LOVE Singapore foods. Some of my favourites are Chicken rice, Satay and Roti prate. I always go to the nearby hawker centre where I can order a variety of food at very affordable prices. Sometimes we can see packets of tissues on the seats and tables. Of course by now, I fully understand the function of these tissues. However, thinking back, when me and my family just arrived in Singapore, we were clueless about it. In Hong Kong, water and tissues are free in most restaurants and eateries.  Hence we mistakenly thought that the tissues were free for diners to use. It was really embarrassing when the people who had occupied the seats came back with their ordered food and explained to us that the tissues belonged to them.

These are some of my intercultural experience in Singapore. I am sure some foreigners, like me may be able to relate to my experiences above.