"If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, Society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him."
(John Fitzgerald Kennedy)
Culture is something that we are all thought to value and respect as well as follow. But, do we?
That is a question which is answered by all one way or the other. Yes, we may say "Of course we do, is that even a question?" and as usual, we contradict ourselves all the time. Singapore's culture for example, it says it is a various culture society which lives in harmony. Yet again, that is easily contradicted by the society itself today. For example, the couple who got jailed for passing out material that was against the Muslims.
It is true that Singaporeans do live in harmony with various cultures together. Than again, are they confident enough to say that each culture is accepted by the other? It is something which shows itself over and over again in it's various forms. Children are thrown into different cultural thinking which they carry with themselves as they grow and then pass it on to their next generation. Of course there are generations which tend to break these norms and start to have a whole new perception of the many cultures around them by unlearning the many things that have been passed down to them.
Everyone is narrow-minded to a certain extent and accepts certain things. If one was to be thrown into a hole where only people of his culture exists, do you think he will be able to accept other cultures when he returns to the normal society? OR, if it were the other way round and he had to return to a place from various cultures to one would he still be feeling the same way?
"People can only live fully by helping others to live. When you give life to friends you truly live.
Cultures can only realize their further richness by honoring other traditions. And only by respecting natural life can humanity continue to exist."
( Japanese peace Activist and Buddhist Leader of Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai International, b.1928)
for me, every culture is unique no matter unique in a good point or in the opposite point. What I can say now is I am surely proud of my culture it is just that each culture indeed needs to make their culture not just to be more known by others, but also being a better culture period by period.
ReplyDeleteEven I regret to say that in everyone, there is some measure of prejudice. No culture can be one hundred percent accepted by another culture not matter how hard we try.
ReplyDeleteSo long as there is difference, there will never be full acceptance. We may accept, but at the same time we may not agree to those cultural practices. Until the day earth is populated by clones and all traces of difference are erased, then will there be full cultural harmony, since everyone is truly equal.
I know that is a very bleak view of humanity. But for now, I will be satisfied if people stop making degrading jokes about other people's culture. The day that happens would be the day humanity takes a great leap toward true cultural harmony.
I guess we are all confused, be it fighting against other's culture from fusing in our culture, or embracing the foreign culture, or discriminating other's culture. I guess the main importance is to find a balance between preserving our own culture and accepting other's culture, because between right and wrong lies a huge grey area.
ReplyDeleteindeed culture is an image of any nation!!
ReplyDeleteIs Singapore really culturally inclusive? Are we really accepting of each other's racial and cultural differences? Sure, ideally we try to uphold tolerance and acceptance, but if the extensive arsenal of racial jokes and slurs and the ease with which we pull them out are anything to go by, we have a long way to go before we can honestly honor Racial Harmony D.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned in ur article, "culture is soemthing we are meant to value and respect as well as follow, But, do we?"
ReplyDeleteAfter having completed my business module, i have comet to realize how culture can play such an imporant role in a manager's approach to managing in an increasingly global environment. I think managers should particularly be asking themselves this very good question that u mentioned, do we REALLY respect other cultures?
To be a strong leader in an increasingly globalized scene is not easy as it requires you to understand other cultural practices and norms well so that, being a good leader, you can adapt your company's norms and practices to suit that of the culture you are operating in. And how well you do that will determine your businesse's success or failure.
There have been several cases of businesses not being able to adapt to the culture of another country. for instance, the chain of America's Big Boy fast food outlets in Thailand was an initial failure as their menu only catered to the american taste. later, they realized that the Thais have a spicy palate, so thy changed their menu accordingly and saw more Thais enjoying their new "spicy burgers".