4th post: Describe in writing the intercultural scenario that you observed for that task and present an interpretation in light of your understanding of cultural norms and values and the fundamentals of effective communication.
___________________________________________________________________
Cultural conflict - Who's right and who's wrong?
It all happened when this Malay male driver was driving his family in his big car on the road. (I was looking because my dad is driving and I'm only a passenger idling). All of a sudden, a seemingly-professional cyclist (a Caucasian) came along, cycling very closely to this big vehicle. Drivers know that the blind spot area is highly prone to accidents and this bicycle just kept on closing in, after dangerously cutting lanes. Until the car stopped behind the red light, the driver got down his car and started his aggressive questioning on why is he cycling so near him? There is a pavement and the cyclist can actually use instead of cycling at his own pace on the road and road hog and be a high-potential road hazard. The cyclist calmly put his hand out to try to shake hand with the driver to apologise or "shrug it off". Apparently, the driver is not taking it lightly. He ignored that totally, and when saw the action, he was disgusted. However, the Caucasian seemed to just ignore the "crazy" guy and rode off even before the traffic light turned green. After which, the Malay driver changed from left lane to the farthest right lane to avoid the "road hazard".
Interpretation:
I was rather appalled at the act of the Caucasian riding on the road, behaving as if he's the king. It was understandable why the driver acted that way. However, I thought that was quite over-reacting. So much so that I felt embarrassed that the Malay driver (whom I think he is Singaporean) was giving such a huge reaction. I did not exactly hear the entire conversation but I heard some parts of it, because the driver was clearly shouting his lungs out and there seemed to be vulgarities. The part that made me stunned was the cyclist's reaction. It had been slightly too "cool", so much so that he did not react at all. All he did was stretch out his hand and seemed to expect a handshake to "shrug things off". This, in a way, showed how a Singaporean is calculative and petty as compared to Caucasians.
Caucasians are often seen to be more open (not conservative) and do not take things to heart. This can be seen from the cyclist's reaction of not shouting back to the Malay driver when the Malay driver reacted.
All in all, I feel that it would be more effective if the Malay driver could just talk to the cyclist nicely and not shout at him to convey the message that it is not safe to cycle in that manner (by cutting into and out of lanes on the road). In this case, I felt that both were in the wrong but it was not hard to resolve the conflict if both parties were cool and calm at that moment.
Hi Jialing,
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you that the driver should have remained calm and slowly explain to the cyclist on proper road use in Singapore. Simply losing his temper and yelling vulgarities is not only unhelpful to the situation as it may have led to road rage and would just reflect badly on him. The cyclist was also rude to act nonchalant and should have at least apologized verbally instead of just offering a handshake.
I feel that both parties should have been more sensitive and empathize with each other. The cyclist may have come from a place e.g. Toronto where cycling on roads is a wide spread practice and may have unknowingly breached Singapore’s road practices. On the other hand, the cyclist could have tried to understand why his actions triggered such a heated response from the driver.
Most of the times, people are not intentionally malicious but rather they themselves are ignorant that their actions are unwelcomed by certain cultures or countries. Hence it would be helpful if everybody try to be more sensitive to each other’s culture and accepting of other’s mistakes.
Valerie
I think this scenario not only has a cultural dimension to it, but also an emotional intelligence dimension.
ReplyDeleteAs an active driver who has had my safety threatened by road-using cyclists, I am afraid I actually empathise more with the driver in this incident. These unprotected maniacs on two wheels are road menaces! They are so hard to spot and force drivers to execute dangerous maneuvers to avoid them when they cycle recklessly. The driver in this incident is entitled to be furious especially since he is ferrying his family around!
Additionally, the cool attitude that the cyclist displays also shows how unapologetic he is about his actions. Can he be so sure of his skills that he can say he will never cause an accident? Perhaps it would take an actual accident occurring to shake him up? But if that were to happen, then there would be no point to him being apologetic right?
The whole point of the driver shouting at the cyclist is to impress upon him the danger which the cyclist imposes on other road users through his actions. The driver is not just venting his frustration, but also his fear. In such a case, the cyclist should just apologise. The handshake should come after the apology to show that there are no hard feelings. That he just offered his hand shows just how much the cyclist understands the situation. In fact, to me, that action signals a breakdown in communication. Perhaps the root cause for this is cultural or it could be that the cyclist just had low EQ, or even a combination of both. Whichever it is, only the cyclist will know for sure.
-Wanliang
Haha I do agree that often conflicts arising from cultural norms and individual behavior is rather hard to distinguish.
ReplyDeleteHowever an obvious note in the incident was that there could have been a better way for the malay driver to express his concerns or unhappiness. I personally feel that a social or cultural trend in asians is that they are rather narrow-minded and petty, as compared to others cultures who don't take incidents in a morbid or serious mindset.
I guess that the malay driver, given the fact that the cyclist has already taken the initiative to apologize, should have reciprocrated the gesture. While not trying to pin the blame on either sides in the conflict, i guess both parties could have been more tactful in managing the situation or understanding each others possible mindset, so that there wouldn't have been such a fierce confrontation that possibly left a sour aftertaste in both parties.
Cheers!
Hi, sorry for my late comments.
ReplyDeleteActually I am also more emphatised with the driver, just like what Wanliang had said. I think he was furious because he was worried about the safety of his family on the ride. Moreover, when seeing that the cyclist was acting calm over this seemingly "dangerous" act, I guess he was even more furious. I think sometimes when something is concerned about our family, it is always not easy to hold back our emotion.
As for that cyclist, I think maybe he had encountered this kind of situation before, that's why he was used it and could even act calm over it.
I guess it's difficult to say who was right and who was wrong in this kind of situation. It just happens as people have different stands and point of views.