Intercultural communication can be thought akin to a
trans-Atlantic flight- most of the times flying smoothly with some sprinkling
of minor turbulences. On some occasions, the flight goes through some major storm
but even in those cases, an experienced pilot will safely guide the flight to
its destination.
I came to Singapore in 2009 and in many aspects these
four years have been a cultural eye-opener. Some customs were quite familiar to
me and gave me joy thinking back on the celebrations we have back home while
some were so unfamiliar that it made me wonder about its purpose.
Take the Hungry Ghost Festival for example. For those
of you who do not know, it is a Chinese tradition of feeding wandering spirits
during the seventh month of the lunar calendar and lasts for the whole month.
They offer the dead sumptuous meals which consists of meats, fish, fruits,
cakes, alcohol- basically all the dainties I know of.
During 2010, when I initially the saw the bulk of
nicely decorated food left unattended under trees I was very curious. It was
clear no one intended on eating it, nobody even spared a second glance at it as
if it was completely normal to keep fancy food lying on the sidewalk. Moreover,
this is the Pasir Panjang Road I am talking about- a calm and quiet residential
area just outside the university campus. It seemed like only I was interested
in the matter. Was it thrown away? It could not be, judging by the decoration
and the incense lit up on the side. I vaguely remembered my grandmother telling
me stories of tree worship in Bangladeshi villages during her time and wondered
if this was something similar. Surely a first-world nation like Singapore would
not worship trees, that too on such a busy road?
While I was engrossed in all these ground-breaking theory formulation, an elderly auntie appeared and offered me some of the food. Although she was very kind in her approach, the offer startled me to such an extent that I hurriedly mumbled a negative reply and almost ran away.
While I was engrossed in all these ground-breaking theory formulation, an elderly auntie appeared and offered me some of the food. Although she was very kind in her approach, the offer startled me to such an extent that I hurriedly mumbled a negative reply and almost ran away.
Some days later, I asked one of my Singaporean friends
about the whole incident. She was the one who kindly took her time during a
lunch to explain the Ghost festival. Apparently, Chinese communities in
Malaysia and Singapore believe that the gates of Hell open on the 7th lunar
month, freeing the spirits of the dead to roam in the world of the living. The
living, in turn, must make offerings of food and burnt prayer money to the
souls of the dead to appease them.
When I mentioned to her about the encounter with the
auntie, she almost choked into her food with laughter. Alas, poor me. After she
regained control, she clarified that the food was usually eaten by the under-privileged.
My lingering and staring at the food must have made auntie come to the
conclusion that perhaps I was a poor boy with nothing to eat.
Today, as I reflect back on the experience, I see how
inexperienced I was at communicating with strangers from a different culture. I
could have approached the auntie to ask her to explain the ritual to me instead
of running away from her and making a complete fool of myself. I guess that is
the price I paid for not knowing effective intercultural communication.
A little knowledge about others’ cultures goes a long
way.
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| A change in perspective is sometimes all that is needed. Image source- http://interculturaljournal.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/ethnocentrism.jpg |
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