This is the second part of the article called "Culture Shock- then and now". If you recall, in the first part of the article, we talked about how a person experienced culture shock 30 years ago where technology wasn't as advance as today. In this article, we will look at culture shock in today's world. In the earlier article, we look at the crucial phase for the new migrant (or in some cases, the long stay overseas visitor) which is known as the "negotiation phase" or the "awareness phase". This is the phase that will determine whether the person will choose to continue staying in the new country or to return to his or her country of origin. The symptoms of "negotiation phase" would be where the person will start missing everything that is familiar to him such as family, loved ones, friends and the availability of food from his country of origin. In today's world of advance technology, we have many apps that will assist us in bridging contacts with our family, loved ones and friends irregardless of where we are. We have apps such as WhatsApp, Viber, Tango and Skype that will enable either texting, phone calls or video calls to our family and friends. Most of these apps are free and even if there is cost involved, it is relatively low. For example, in Sydney, I have an app that will enable me to call places like Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia for very little fee. The best part of the app is that it will display my mobile number on the recipient's telephone screen. This would allow the person to know that the call is indeed from me and it is a genuine call. As a matter of fact, the telephone call which I make from Sydney to Malaysia will cost me less than what I would have paid should I make the same call from Malaysia even though it is deemed to be a local call. That is how advance technology is in the modern world. In certain developed countries, there are telephone plans that will enable the person to make free unlimited international calls to certain countries. Just imagine the kind of convenience that we have today compared to 30 years ago when I had to queue for that 1 minute free phone call courtesy of AT&T in the US. Today, wherever we are, we can just pick up the phone and make a video call or phone call to our loved ones or friends without the need to think about the cost or convenience. This definitely helped the person when he or she is missing the family or loved ones. As for news from home, gone were the days when my father had to snail mail the local Malaysia newspaper cuttings to Los Angeles. Nowadays, we can read almost any newspaper in the world by just pointing and clicking our mouse on the computer in the comfort of our home in our new country. In fact, I seldom read hard copies of newspaper nowadays, it is all online news for me. Communication is definitely an ease to many of today's new migrants or long term overseas visitors compared to those who migrated years ago. That would certainly cushioned the "home sickness" that one would experienced when one moved to a new country.
I remember when I first left for overseas some 30 years ago, there were a lot of teary farewells. Family and friends would be missing us and vice versa. Due to the distance and expensive telephone calls, we knew that we would not be seeing or contacting each other for a quite a long time. However today, I see many parents sending off their children in the airport without teary eyes. There were laughter and happiness all around. Sometimes you could even hear the parents reminding the children, “don’t forget to “tango” or “face time” us when you reached your destination”. Some parents would even go as far as telling the children to check out online airfare from time to time and if there is a cheap flight, to go ahead and book for a home visit. What a contrast from 30 years ago where it was a privilege if you could travel to your country of origin once every 3 years. Traveling by plane today is just like taking a bus to your destination.
As for the availability of food from the country of origin either in terms of restaurants or ingredients, many countries have a wide range of international cuisines and ingredients to make your favourite food from your country of origin. Sometimes they may even carry items from your country which cannot be found easily in your own country. For example, a few years ago, my friend Tan Chin Huang introduced me to a unique coffee called “Durian coffee”. Yes, as the name implies, the coffee with “durian” essence. The only place that I know that sells this type of coffee in KL is a grocery shop behind Tung Shin hospital. However, not far from where I am staying in Sydney is a huge Asian supermarket and you can easily find “Durian coffee” over there! I remember my father telling us that when he first landed in Australia in 1959, there was only one Chinese restaurant in Perth. The name of the Chinese restaurant was called “Kong Meng”. Though the name of the restaurant sounded Chinese but in actual fact, it was operated by an Italian family. My father told us that the food wasn’t that great but if there was rice, that was good enough for him.
So, with all of this technology and convenience from your country of origin in your new country, one would think that it is easier to settle down as you can get anything from your country of origin within your reach. True? Well, not quite. By having too many things from your home country would place a person in a state of complacent. In other words, there is really no need for the person to explore new food or culture of that new country because everything from his or her country of origin is there for the plucking. I was informed by a friend of mine who used to work in the Malaysian Student Department in the US that Malaysian Government used to send hundreds or perhaps even thousands of students to a couple of universities. Due to the large number of Malaysian students in those universities, they decided to form their own “village” or “kampung” where all the Malaysians would congregate and live in one area. The students would eat together and stay together and there was no need to go outside of the comfort zone. All of this happened from the first day that the student arrived at the US airport. I met one of those students and this was what he related to me:-
“The first day I arrived in the airport, I was met by one of the seniors (“senior” here would mean one of the Malaysian students who had been in the university longer than him). The Malaysian Student Association would charter a bus to meet the new students at the airport and then take the students to their accommodation which was like a typical Malaysian hostel. Everyone would be speaking Malay and personally, I don’t feel any different whether I was living in Malaysia or in that accommodation”.
I was told that during weekends or holidays, the Malaysian students would spent time amongst themselves either going to movies or doing things together. By the time they have graduated, apart from obtaining a US degree, there was nothing very much socially or culturally they have learned from the United States. In fact, some of the students would returned to Malaysia without showing any improvement in his or her competency of the English Language. All of this was due to being too comfortable and there wasn’t any motivation to learn and explore new things.
I hope you enjoy this article, our next article in relation to cross culture will be what we call as “homogenous race settlement area”. “Homogenous race settlement area” is where a particular race or nationality living in a single area in a foreign country. A common example, would be places like “Chinatown”, “little Japan”, “Korea town”, etc. Until then.....
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