Greeting is a way for human to communicate awareness of each other’s presence and show attention to each other. In a small world like ours, travelling around it is no longer a feat as technology progresses yet there are still 1001 ways to greet each other.
The British prefer to say “hello” when they meet with their friends.
French people usually kiss on both cheeks when they meet and leave to show respect and affection between two people in general.
However, cheek kissing is highly uncommon in Asian countries. In Japan, the Japanese would bow when they greet someone. Even within the family, most Japanese would not hug each other because they do not have the habit of expressing their feelings directly.
The Inuit, who live in Canada, rub noses whereas in Tibet they would stick their tongue out at someone to show that they have no evil thoughts.
Let us look at an example closer to home. Muslims greet each other with the salam (an Islamic form of greeting) When the Malays offer the salam, they will touch each other's right hand. The touch is just a light clasp not amounting to a handshake which is then immediately followed by the placing the hand on the heart to signify the greeting is heartfelt.
Just last year, the president of America, Mr Barack Obama was criticised as treasonous for bowing to the Japanese Emperor. Critics claim that Mr Obama is showing deference to the Japanese emperor as the state department protocol decrees that the president bows to no one. However, others feel that the US president is just bowing out of courtesy and respect for the Japanese culture.
Our planet consists of many different countries where different races of people with different customs and manners live in. Each of these countries has their own way of greeting people. The biggest difference is not the content of the greeting but the behaviour and the way they express their greetings. However, regardless of the differences in the way greeting is being expressed, the ultimate aim of showing awareness of presence of each other could be felt.
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Hi Shihhan,
ReplyDeleteI love the way you articulated your perspective in the sentence:
“In a small world like ours, travelling around it is no longer a feat as technology progresses yet there are still 1001 ways to greet each other.”
It makes me appreciate the existence of a vast variety of cultures even more.
I think with all these different cultures, it is important not to be ethnocentric. This was clearly a problem in the bowing incident involving President Obama. Some Americans were quick to think the worst of the situation as they judged the bowing based on their culture. Maybe they should have been patient and considered the perspective from the Japanese culture too. What do you think?
Geraldine
Hello Shih Han
ReplyDeleteI believe that some are rather quick to judge, in this case. Obama is portraying cultural sensitivity here. He's merely showing his respect to the emperor.
The Americans should probably try to perceive his actions from the perspective of the Japanese and not from their own. This is how cultural understanding is practiced.
When intercultural relationships are involved, every party should give and take. This should be the way in any other kind of relationships, too.
Hello Shih Han!
ReplyDeleteLearnt something about the Inuit from Canada and the Tibetians (if I spelt that correctly) today.
I guess to most people like us, if we're ignorant about a particular culture, we would probably scoff at them or keep staring. It's human nature. Just as most English foreigners would be shocked at the way we speak and our other culture habits.
I agree with Valarie. Giving and taking. It'll make our world a better place. =)
Thanks, Shih Han, for this discussion of ways of greeting across cultures. You give a good survey of a number of different greeting styles. One that you mention is the Japanese style: bowing. In light of that (though oddly, a paragraph distant), you remind us of the controversy surrounding President Obama's visit to Japan and his bow before the emperor. So even greetings can be politically sensitive issues.
ReplyDeleteWhile I like this post, technically, it isn't an observation, although it could have easily become the background info for a scenario that you have witnessed. Here in Singapore, for instance, have you seen a greeting that might have reflected some intercultural confusion or lack of awareness?
Hi there Shih Han,
ReplyDeleteTo respond to Brad's comment, I'm not too sure about the culture here in Singapore. I guess it should be similar to that in Malaysia where it's a multi-cultural country.
I'll illustrate one example based on my personal experience in Malaysia. In your blog, you mentioned about Malay greeting with their "salam". There was once I went visiting during the Hari Raya. All my Muslims friends greeted our friends' parents that way. This is because it is a way to show respect to the elders. As for me, being sensitive to that culture, I shaked my hand instead of doing the salam. However, I did went a bit extra by bowing my head a little. This was just my personal preference to show respect, I guess.
Therefore, I think that intercultural conflict arises when one party showed some gesture which is generally offensive. However, when unsure (like my description above), I think it should be feasible to stick to the general trend which is widely accepted.
Just my two cents. :)