Today I will blog about an optimistic intercultural scenario I have encountered first-hand just a few weeks ago, when I was at my friend's house doing a project.
My project group is made up of 5 girls- 4 of us are Chinese, and 1 of us is a Malay. Because of our different beliefs, religions, and practices, my Malay friend, who is a Muslim, was unable to make contact with the dog.
Thankfully, my other friend, the owner of the dog, was very conscious of these cultural differences and made it a point to place a board across the kitchen door to keep the dog away from the rest of us who were in the living room. The rest of us who played with the dog also realised the cultural differences and made sure we washed our hands thoroughly before heading back to continue the project, lest we touch our Malay friend unknowingly.
These simple gestures may seem meaningless and even petty to some, but I feel glad that we took effort to prevent any intercultural discomfort from occuring. By being thoughtful of cultural differences between each other, we saved our Malay friend the need of feeling unhappy and prevented any misunderstandings from happening. Our Malay friend probably felt relieved and non-isolated from us despite our differences.
Thus, I conclude that it is important to always be aware of the intercultural differences between people. I guess the key words here are 'tolerance' and 'compromise' between cultures. With more understanding towards others' perspectives, we will be more accepting of the differences between others and ourselves. On a personal basis, it will allow for genuine care between people and prevent feelings from being hurt. On a wide-scope basis, it will allow people of different cultures to work together well.
(:
