Cultured Singapore

-credits to www.talkingcock.com

Geert Hofstede defines culture as the "collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another..includes systems of values and values are among the building blocks of culture".

This made me think about Singapore's culture? What is it exactly? Do we even have a culture? Many people have the misconception that Singapore does not have a bona fide culture ironically, due to our culture diversity.

I beg to differ. I feel that owing to the fact that Singapore is a cosmopolitan society where people of different races live harmoniously and interaction among different races is high, our culture is, as the Singapore Tourism Board has painstakingly been promoting- unique! It is not the "leeching" off of other countries with rich cultures as some people perceive it to be, but the fusion of the cultures of various ethnic groups such as the Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian races, and making it our very own.

As reflected by the comic, we have come up with our own language- Singlish! Our own colloquial/creole language(a stable language that originates seemingly as a nativized pidgin) fundamentally English due to the British colonialization, but now loaded with substantial influences from the languages of the various ethnic groups. Interestingly, a book- The Coxford Singlish Dictionary as well as website has been created and dedicated to celebrate our culture as well as to aid non Singaporeans in understanding us better, as well as to increase effective communication between Singaporeans and the world(tourists for instance).


Similarly, thanks to our multi-racial society, we have the privillage of having and being exposed to all kinds of different cuisines and foreign delicacies that have been "localised" and invented new "fusion food" to call our own. For instance, from the above comic strip, "Supperman" the Chinese superhero is shown ordering roti prata- a local favourite created by the fusion of local Malay and Indian culinary skills.

"Rojak" is another food that Singaporeans have come up with that i feel represents us. It is a fruit and vegetable salad dish. The term "Rojak" is Malay for mixture, and also used as a colloquial expression for an eclectic mix, and in particular is often used to describe the multi-ethnic characteristics of our Singaporean society.


A sub culture prevalent in Singapore is our tendency to be "kiasu" or the fear of losing out to others. This word is often used in describing our social attitudes, our constant fear in losing out in our highly competitive society- the pressure of having to do well not only in exams but other non-academic achievements as well, in order to compete in our increasingly competitive and stressful society. Growing up with this mindset and belief that if they do not be "kiasu" brought on by teachers, parents as well as society in general, causing these students to become ambitious businesspeople, with the desire to be on top in terms of wealth and prestige, regardless of whether the most prestigious careers are aligned with what they really want.

Another pervasive Singaporean phenomenon, is the use of tissue packets to "chope" or reserve seats in food courts or hawker centres. This use of an artefact to "mark one's territory" is a social cue that Singaporeans (not all) have adopted to ensure that they have a space to sit and eat due to lack of space at crowded eateries. Even though I understand this logic behind the "choping" of seats, I still find it kinda weird at times and wonder if this kind of culture should be encouraged.



Imagine you are a tourist happily walking into a food court to try some local fare and you see this strange scene.

You then shrug it off and take a seat, thinking that Singapore is such a clean, well equipped place that free tissue paper is provided even at public food courts...until some auntie returns with a tray of food, gives you a killer look, points at the packets of tissue and chases you away.

Talk about culture shock.



No too long ago, the Singapore Discovery Centre introduced these interestingly designed tissue paper packets as tribute to this local phenomena.

I don't know if I should laugh or shake my head.

Should we really reinforce this kind of culture?

Suffering from groupsmell!

Have you ever thought about speaking up in a meeting or some other type of group setting and decided against it because you did not want to appear unsupportive or disapprove of the group's efforts? Have you led a team in which the team members were reluctant to express their own opinions? If so, you have probably been a victim of "Groupthink".

The term "Groupthink" was coined by Irving Janis in 1972 when he was researching why a team reaches an excellent decision one time, and a disastrous one the next. What he found was that a lack of conflict or opposing viewpoints led to poor decisions, because alternatives were not fully analyzed, and therefore groups did not gather enough information to make an informed decision.


" Ehh, where should we have lunch later? The cafeteria or Megabites? ".

" Err...Megabites lah! The cafeteria's too smelly!".

"Yeahh!(all chorus) The cafeteria stinks man!". [ pun not intended (: ]

This is just an example of groupthink(at a low level) that my friends and I tend to engage in, when deciding where we want to have lunch in school. I am sure most of us if not all have experienced this! (:

We have the tendency to hold shared stereotypes (that the cafeteria's ventilation is horrible and that we do not want to reek of oil and food smells.) However, we sometimes fail to remember that not everyone in our group like the food served in Megabites, or, find it too pricey because we stick to our own perceptions and prejudice's and simple refuse to change.

This is when self-censorship - individuals within the group who hesitate to speak up as they know they will encounter disapproval. This then leads to illusion of unanimity whereby the doubting member believes that everyone agrees with the group's chosen action/ideology(in this case that the cafeteria reeks) and thus, should a dissenting member speak up, he/ she will be severely sanctioned as other members place pressure/put dissenters down.

Therefore, in this case a mind-guard / devil's advocate(someone to look at things from a different perspective) will be extremely helpful event and "protect" leader and key members from negative information.

In addition, according to Fisher, groups that never experience conflict are not working at capacity. A healthy group is noisy, inhibited and not governed by norms of politeness and have frequent disagreements , arguments and constant interruptions.

Hence, i feel that my group should thus come together to take advantage and hopefully acquire idiosyncrasy credit- a kind of symbolic currency earned through behavior. As, only from such interaction and "thrashing" of opinions, can efficient task dimension(groups which are formed to reach a decision) occur, instead of us always wasting precious time trying to decide where to eat.

What do you think? (:

Inspirational nuggets.

"He who laughs last didn't get it."
- 'Helen Giangregorio'

"Let your imagination release
your imprisoned possibilities."
- Dr Robert H Schuller

"Even if you're on the right track,

you'll get run over if you just sit there."

- William Penn

"Men have died from time to time,
and worms have eaten them, but not love."
- William Shakespeare

I love quotes. I think that quotes are a brilliant way of communicating. Don't you think that quotes are a form of language? Well, I do. I feel that they not only serve as a vehicle for one to get one's idea across in a intelligent and sometimes witty manner, but also causes one to think further, make sense as well as find meaning to it. Hence in a sense, quotes are peoples' take from a psychological perspective(locates communication in the human mind and see the individual as both the source and destination for messages).

Most quotes are written by famous people such as philosophers, celebrities, scientists as they are looked up to and hence the words of such people are perceived to carry a certain weightage and wisdom as compared to normal people like you and me. Many people thus, look to quotes for inspiration as well as for enjoyment. I feel that the reason why quotes are personal, is that they are feelings and emotions of people, both famous or not, and at some point of time, people find that they can relate to.

On an interesting note, www.coolquotes.com has also come up with weekly contests to encourage people to share their own quotes, and publishes the 3 "best" quotes on their website.

"CoolQuotes Submitted by Users" contest:

1st Place: "If pro is the opposite of con, is progress the opposite of congress??" Author (Brittany C. ) Submitted by Brittany C.

2nd Place: "Dwell on the here and now, before it is there and gone." Author (Aubrey Charasz) Submitted by Aubrey Charasz

3rd Place: "Friendship is like a seed, which when planted in a heart blooms to fill a need." Author (Unknown) Submitted by Melville Paul


People study quotes for instance, Literature students study Shakespeare's or Plato's work to gain insight on other people's perspectives and to learn from them. Quotes also fuel discussion as people's mental sets vary, they might disagree with a certain quote or it may inspire them to think, reflect on the words of wisdom and may even impact their lives as they remember a certain quote that strikes a deep chord.

That being said, sometimes quotes are exclusive to a certain culture as quotes are made by people from all over the world, certain famous quotes that we look back to (taken from different eras) are sometimes difficult to understand as colloquial language or slang is used, hence people from different cultures will not be able to understand such quotes and sayings. Successful communication in a sense, is not present as there is no "meeting of the minds".

However, as time progresses, mankind has collected many categories, types of quotes by people from all over the world ! Some are light hearted and just meant to poke fun at people or circumstances in life, whereas others are philosophical and serve to inspire people. There is a quote for almost any feeling! The internet has also mad things easier for us as people have categorized and sorted the many different quotes available and people can search for a quotes to match their various feelings at different point of their lives. Furthermore, critiques and explanation of quotes, interpretation of quotes can be found on some websites to aid people from different cultures or people who just don't understand a quote as it may be too intellectually deep.

All in all, I feel that quotes are like little nuggets of wisdom and information that we should all consume every now and then! (: