Intercultural Communication

Singapore has an intercultural/inter-racial society, and racial harmony is something she prides herself on. Our social fabric is very delicate, and intercultural conflicts have to be solved with much sensitivity and tact.

Personally, I feel that the first step to effective intercultural communication is to have a clear understanding of the other party's customs, values, accepted behaviours etc. Only when you are able to conduct yourself appropriately before someone of a different culture will you be able to have an effective conversation.

Once, I went for supper with some friends at a popular late night prata shop run by a family of Malays. Halfway through our meal, I saw a Caucasian couple walking towards us, together with a golden retriever on the leash. Dogs are taboo animals to Malays, and of course they were stopped from entering the shop. The couple had some problem trying to understand the Malay waiter's accent and vice versa. The two parties squbbled for very long, and the waiter offered to tie the dog leash outside along the fence while the couple could have their meal. However, the couple was unwilling to do so as they fear for the dog's safety, and insisted that it was alright to bring the dog into the shop. Eventually the couple left without patronizing, and shouted a few unpleasant words they left.

I felt that as Caucasians, they had the culture of "a dog is a man's best friend". They value their dog as if it was their child, hence I was not surprised that they were unwilling to tie their dog outside the shop while having supper. However, I felt that as visitors or immigrants (that I was not too sure of) to our country, they should respect our culture and customs here too. It is in the Malay customs that they see dogs as "unclean" animals, hence they were not allowed in the shop. The Caucasian couple could have compromised by taking away the food instead of eating in, and there was absolutely no need to swear and make a scene too.

To communicate effectively, one has to be sensitive towards certain issues, especially those regarding culture and religion. Also, the fact that both parties could not understand each others' accent well was also a cause for the communication breakdown.

The Science Library should increase the number of textbooks available

Ever had the problem of not being able to borrow a textbook from the science library, especially during test and examination periods? At times, even the RBR textbooks have long waiting lists. I had, and this problem often leaves me perturbed and stressed because I could not refer to the textbooks to clarify my doubts quickly (time is of the essence during examination periods).

Hence, I feel that it is imperative that the problem of insufficient textbooks in the science library should be addressed. The general research question is whether students would urge the library management to increase the number of textbooks made available in the science library. A possible hypothesis could be: Increasing the number of textbooks in the science library would increase students' productivity during revision especially during examination periods.

This is a problem that is close to many students' hearts, and an attitudinal survey should be done amongst science students to gather their views so that a report could be submitted to the library's management and the Science Dean's office. With convincing data from the survey, it would be a strong basis to persuade the Dean's office and the library management to consider increasing the number of copies of textbooks in the science library, so that students would not need to engage in the rat race of reserving and hiding textbooks.