ES2007S Professional Communication.

Evaluating Intercultural Behaviour (2)

Friday, 12 October 2012

Unknown

After reading several other posts, I feel that my post, which talks about the difference between rural and urban area, is not a distinct intercultural situation. Hence, I will be writing another short post to describe on another intercultural behaviour.

Recently, my friend, who is studying in London, posted a comment on Facebook and I find it rather fascinating. He mentioned that the tube in London broke down and he wrote down the observations he made.

“Tube station was crowded and stuffy, but everyone was orderly and understanding. Needless to say, no one was snapping photos with their smart phones.”

This really sets me thinking. Why is there such a big difference between London and Singapore? I still remember when our train service broke down, there was such a big commotion about it. There were tons of complaints in the forum and newspaper. Is this because the disruption of train service is a rare event in Singapore but it is relatively common in London? Hence, people in London are generally used to it. So does this means that having an almost perfect train service is something bad after all? Or should our train service break down more often? What do you think?

2 comments

2 Comments:

At 16 October 2012 at 00:37, Unknown

Hi Yea Wen,

That is one interesting point being made out by your friend in London. I am not sure if it is the Singapore culture or if it is the consequences of having a camera phone. I have to say, in Singapore, they have a platform named Stomp and this platform has many photos of wrong-doings by careless citizens. It has become a norm to report a negative behavior online rather than to inform the person right away. I am not sure if people take pleasure by having a good laugh at other's wrongdoings but, taking photos is never a solution to the problem in the photo. Your post has indeed set me thinking about Singaporeans.

Min Thu
At 16 October 2012 at 21:20, Unknown

I absolutely agree with you, Min thu. I really don't understand what is a person thinking when he/she posts videos or photos of other's wrongdoings. It does not benefit both parties in any way. Nevertheless,at times, Stomp may actually brings our attention to certain pressing social issues and force us to think about them.