JR8 wrote:Something must have got lost in translation as you seemed to be linking the necessity to force common courtesy, with multi-culturalism. I took the former to be the kind of issues we have previously discussed under the umbrella of graciousness, and the Graciousness Campaign. Things like throwing rubbish from windows, flushing toilets, chewing-gum. MRT seats for the less well abled etc.
Sorry if I got the wrong end of the stick, my question was not judgemental. I think it might be interesting if something linked lack of graciousness with multi-culturalism. It’s a link I’ve not seen made before... so interesting to explore right?
I’m not sure who brought up smoking, you or the professor? You’re saying some non-native nationalities are not aware of SGn laws and so need warnings (or the threat of fines) to remind them?
I can't remember discussing graciousness campaigns with you. In fact I think you are confusing me with somebody else.
I looked at the link saw the professor talking about the fines for smoking and was therefor focussed on that.
I think it is a very touchy subject you bring forward there, one that could be easily misunderstood or taken the wrong way.
So grin let me try it:
Let me first state what I take as a fact:
Every member of a culture, nationality, province etc have usually a cultural frame of courtecy (unwritten rules)
Even in a country without any other nationalities (do they even exist?) experiences differences in cultural frames like people from the country vs people from cities, older vs younger generation, high income groups vs lower income groups.
No matter what a certain group thinks all groups have their own kind of courtesy.
Ok so within these facts:
Let's take a country as Singapore.
Singapore has a own culture and a way of doing things like chopping, a tendency not to raise voices, calling non-family members above a certain age auntie or uncle etc.
For a stranger with his or her own cultural frame it takes a while to discover all these unwritten differences. Then it also depends on own preference which unwritten rules to accept, or use in own advantage or to discard.
Singaporeans have probably noticed which members of certain cultural frames are more prone to accept a certain unwritten rule and what kind of unwritten rules they discard and what kind of unwritten rules they themselves try to impose on Singaporeans.
I perceive the Singaporeans as very careful in first contact situations; wherein they try to establish the cultural frame of the new comer.
Once the nationality is found out and a Singaporean knows others from the same nationality the Singaporean has a frame on how to deal with the "new specimen
" the conversation is more free flowing and small differences get solved, debated or explained along the way.
The Singaporean then even goes so far as to invite the new comer to cultural events and get togethers
where the new specimen is more and more intertwined with Singapore culture.
Unfortunately some new specimens only focus on other specimens with the same cultural frames and do not have much chance to be guided by a native guide what makes them not understanding stand out and even critical or downright rejecting towards the cultural frame of the country they are residing in.
Still through media, government and debate even those groups get reached sooner or later. So almost every new comer gets a piece of Singapore culture to take with him when he or she goes back to her own country.
So in short I think that a multi cultural society is even more resilient, inventive and more gracious then a non-multi cultural could be.
Afcourse the are some struggles and hurt feelings along the way but that comes with a living and continuously developing cultural frame as a living organism.
I have doubts about the resilience and graciousness of cultural frames in a more static environment. An attitude like take it or you are outcast does nothing for growth, self-examination and accepting and is therefor prone to become outdated and obsolete in the first storm they encounter.
It can be clearly seen in the professor his opinions - he states something but doesn't try to explain it or to research the why. He then rejects it rudely as outside his cultural frame - an attitude like that comes afcourse from a non-learning cultural frame who feel threatened by the changes they see. He then takes a rigid stance which will probably appeal to those with the same frame and even feels the need to insult. But that wont stop the storm he is seeing and he will end up as a stranger in his own country.
I do not see that happen with the more adaptive Singaporeans who are busy developing a cultural framework that is continuously debated.[/u]
