Evaluating Intercultural Behaviour

With a rise in globalisation and multicultural work environment, intercultural communications become important. Sometimes people may be unaware of the opposite party's cultures and may show some hand sign or words that has different meanings in different countries. For example, a peace hand sign may mean a number two or an insult. Therefore, there is a need for us to understand the different cultures of people so as to avoid misunderstanding and to foster effective communication. 

This reminds me of a holiday in Hong Kong. Although Singapore and Hong Kong do not vary much in terms of their cultures and the population, there are still some which differ to a certain extent. In Hong Kong, we would be served with a pot of bland tea specially for washing of cutlery in restaurants. My uncle, who lives in Hong Kong, told me that the customers might not be satisfied with the hygienic conditions thus they will wash them before using. Also, they would place a small bowl on top of a plate. Since I was used to eating with a plate, I would always remove the bowl and place the food on my plate. I felt strange when I saw some of the customers who were sharing table with us kept looking at me. So I asked my uncle and he explained to me that the bowl was mainly for food while the plate was mainly for bones and others (no wonder for a few times my uncle kept placing the bowl back on my plate). 

Cantonese is commonly spoken in Hong Kong and it may serve as a language barrier if one does not understand. As my family speaks Xin Hui Cantonese, a different dialect different from Hong Kong Cantonese, I had some difficulty communicating with my relatives as some of the pronunciation is different. For example, vegetable in Xin Hui Cantonese is spoken as "cui", but my uncle could not understand even after I repeated a few times. Then I realised that it was pronounced as "choy" in Hong Kong Cantonese after my father told me.

Through this holiday in Hong Kong, I realise that it is important to be aware and increase our sensitivity to the different cultural behaviour when we are in another country. This can help to improve our intercultural competence. On the other hands, if we do not understand or are unaware of the foreigners' cultures, we should also be sincere so that they will know that we actually respect them and their cultures.