Day 5: Evolution Of Culture

I spent this day thinking of the evolution of cultural norms.

Before anyone reading this jumps ahead, I’m talking about two cultural norms: the Thai culture, and the Western culture.

 

 

Thai Culture

I’ve come to learn that the Thais are a very polite nation. Their language is evidential of it, more so their mannerisms. They always adopt a gentle tone when speaking, and are very particular about respecting elders. The ‘sample size’ that led me to this conclusion was not just eager doormen at the hotel or stall owners looking to chat up a potential customer. I include the locals we met at the Elephant Nature Park, and even the Lady Boy’s that we saw along the street.

Lady Boy’s were very peculiar in my opinion. I can maybe understand the difference in our culture and how Singaporeans view sex differently from Thai people. In my opinion, Thailand came to realize that tourism was vital for them to survive, and coupled with the fact that changing gender was relatively common in their country, the general thinking that ‘sex should be sacred’ may have lost its practicality in context of the Thai economy. What do I mean by this? Lady Boy’s were of high demand in Thailand, and that would mean that there are some who would rationalize within themselves that display of sexual acts don’t really degrade any thing.

It also was interesting to me how polite they were too. After seeing them ‘engage with the audience’, they would still greet/say thank you the way Thai people do, by putting their hands together and saying “Kapun Kap”. Seeing this really impacted me because in my opinion, it really shows the level of respect they automatically have for others? Its difficult to explain, but if you kiss or tease a ‘customer/stranger’ merely for entertainment, but still take a moment to thank and show him gratitude, I think this is a very interesting form of politeness that the Thai culture has taken on. The mannerisms are very deeply ingrained. I’m not saying this is conclusive, but merely pointing out how interesting this is to me.

Western Culture

This is something I came to think a lot about during the leadership activity we had, prior to the amazing race: The Handshake Activity. We were asked to walk around the room and talk to someone we didn’t know, and start with a firm handshake. We were told this was a standard yet important skill to master in life if we wish to get to know people. It got me thinking about the difference betweem Asian and Western cultures.

Imagine this scenario, you go to an Asian friend’s home. You meet their parents. To make a good impression in an Asian context, what would one do? Normally from how I was taught since young, it would be to give the impression that I am reserved, polite, and “know my place” to not speak out of turn; “speak only when spoken to” in a sense.

Now imagine a scenario where you would meet your Western friend’s parents in their home. Again personally, I would think to give firm handshakes, be confident, show that I’m opinionated yet mature in thought, speak a lot about my background when asked and display my capabilities. This might vary among different people, but if you compare it to the previous scenario, it’s at the other end of the spectrum.

From this imagination experiment I had, I discussed it with some of my friends, and we concluded that the Asian and Western context are vastly different. But what was important was that in Singapore, the Western context has really manifested itself in our culture even though we’re Asian. This might mean that it may very well go against the Asian nature deeply rooted in us; to be preserved and shy, and that we’re kind of training to be something we’re not, the Western culture.