Assumptions
As
I was strolling over the University campus, I contemplated how different
yet similar the students over here are. They speak English but pronounce
some words differently, making it harder to understand them and to make
yourself understood. They care for different things. One of my Vietnamese
flatmates told me he regrets the fact that Singapore becomes more individualistic.
Americans are egoistic in his eyes, because they care about their own
wellbeing and not about friends and family. But how can you do business
without having friends? You'll need good relations to get some capital
to start with, you have to be a trusted, not opportunistic, person to
get clients.
People
here have different values to start with. Whereas with Westerners, being
happy starts with oneself, people here care much more about the well-being
of the group. Different values lead to different norms. Norms are expressed
in rules, especially in this country. If I make a mess of the kitchen
here, there's a possibility that the users of the kitchen receive a collective
fine for it. Assuming that people have the same norms as you can lead
to serious misunderstandings, possibly even leading you into death. While
I was contemplating all of this, a high, scream-like noise brought me
back into reality. Crossing a road, I had for a moment assumed that traffic
rules were the same here as back home. Singapore however is a left-hand
driving country..