Singapore is like a miniscule of the world; people with
vastly different cultural backgrounds living together, hence it is common to
observe some differences just by paying more attention to the people around
you. One interesting observation is the act of returning of trays after a meal.
This act is more common among Caucasians but not the locals. I learnt that it is
only basic courtesy to do so after a meal in the western countries, but not so
much in the Singapore culture. Although fast food restaurants have
tray-returning stations, the locals are so used to having someone to clear up
the tables after them they simply do not bother to clear up after their meal.
It seems that not cleaning up after a meal is a norm in the local culture the
fast food restaurants employ floor staffs whose main duty is to clear clean up
the tables after customers have had their meal.
Studying in NUS allows me to interact with more
international students from various countries and learnt that education should
not merely be a pursuit of academic results. I had a few ASEAN scholars in my
class in the secondary school days who focused more on the final result, while
the Caucasian students place heavier emphasis on the learning process. The
“result-oriented” culture may prove to produce more hardworking students, but I
personally feel that the process of learning is more important.
Despite the great impact globalization and westernization has
on Singapore, the locals have yet to pick up some cultures which I feel that
may be better than what we have now. On the other hand, I am quite relieved
that Singapore has not lost its unique identity. Different cultures have to be
embraced and respected, and try to integrate when entering a new one.
Hey Li Ying,
ReplyDeleteActually I have read a few pieces of news and debates on this. I think there is something to be considers.
In Singapore we value responsibility, or we can call that duty. We pay for the meal, not just that, service charges are included as well. Those are the money that we pay for the cleaning of our plate. It is the duty for us to pay the cleaners, it is also the duty for the cleaners to clean.Therefore, if the meals prices are not lowered, it is just normal people do not wish to do that. It is the culture we have been through since young. I think it is very reasonable as well.
Another good point that I have read is that the difference in meals. In Singapore we have western meals, but eastern menu dominates. We eat soup, curry and a lot of wet stuff, therefore return your own tray is meaningless, because we still need people to clean the tables, people to clean the plates. If it is western style dish, just chicken chop or cutlet, we can just dump the remains and put the plate there, it would be dry and easy to collect. But eastern meals are different. If we return the tray without any concrete increase in efficiency, then it become meaningless. As we value pragmatism in Singapore as well.
Anyway just like some of the people said, the idea is good, but the culture is different. We should consider more in detail how it should be implemented.
Cheers,
Chi Cheng
Hi Li Ying,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you that there are certain distinctive cultural features that characterize the West differently from the East. Particularly in Asian societies (such as China and Singapore), there is a greater emphasis on the attainment of results as opposed to the West. Nonetheless, I do feel that we have to consider the context that motivates these students to do so. For instance in Singapore, the meritocratic system provides students from low-middle income families to rise up the social ladder. I believe that this is one of the motivating factors as to why parents are spending increasingly more on tuition fees. On the other end of the spectrum, I have also read reports about some families who do not believe in sending their children for tuition and to take learning as a natural process.
To some extent, the emphasis on learning routes has made headway in Singapore societies. For example, the introduction of Integrated Programme has allowed students to experience more holistic learning experiences by skipping the O-levels. Yet, at the end of the day, even greater emphasis is placed on the A-Levels examinations that determine one’s entry into university.
Personally, I do think it is hard to change the result-oriented mindsets of Singaporeans. Yet this does contribute to our distinctive “kiasu” identity that uniquely characterizes our society over others as what you have mentioned. What is more important to embrace your own culture, share these experiences with foreigners and keep an open mind (:
Cheers,
Yuki