Culture shock - then and now (Part 2)

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.....

Culture shock - then and now (Part 1)

The Australian Dispute Resolution Centre (ADRC) in carrying out its research on cross cultural relationships will produce a series of articles examining people who had undergone cultural shock 30 years ago compared with today. It is hope that this research will help people from different cultural background who have moved to a new country, to adapt better and live a happier life. In this article we will look at Culture Shock - then and now. As we all know, the effect of Culture Shock on people who recently moved to a new country compared to 30 years ago is very different due to modern technology and an almost borderless world. So now sit back and enjoy the first installment of this series.

Culture shock used to be one of the main concern whenever a person migrates or leaves for overseas for a long period of stay. Back in the 1980s before I left for the United States of America for my studies, I was given a pamphlet by the “Malaysian American Commission Educational Exchange” (MACEE) on how to deal with culture shock. This is especially true for people for has never left his or her country of origin, let alone moving to another country. I know a few friends who have never flown in an airplane until that fateful day when they left to further their studies in overseas. I remember the pamphlet talked about the 3 phases that the students would most likely go through. The first phase is the “honeymoon phase” where the student would be excited and fascinated with the new country and culture. Everything is new, therefore the student can’t wait to experience and explore life in this new country. It is like having a holiday in this new country. The second phase is the “negotiation phase” or “awareness phase” where usually after a few months, the student began to feel homesick due to the difference between the student’s culture and the culture of the new country. This could also be due to the familiarity which the student misses (eg: family, loved ones, friends, familiar places), language barrier, availability of food from the country of origin and the system and manner the way things are carried out in the new country. Sometimes, this may lead to the student being frustrated, anxious and angry. This is a crucial stage for the student. As this stage will determine whether the student has the ability to adapt or “throw in the towel” and to return to his/her country of origin. There are people who persevere and they are those who call it quits and willing to forego everything to return to the comfort of his/her home country. The third phase is called the “adjustment phase” or the “acceptance phase” where the student began to adapt and accept the new culture and develop his/her routine. The MACEE pamphlet also states that part of the adjustment is that the student began to realise that he/she is going to spend only a small part of his/her life in the new country and should take the opportunity to experience as much as possible. Keeping in mind that MACEE’s pamphlet was meant for students who would eventually return to their country of origin, therefore there were only 3 phases which were highlighted. However, for people who are migrating to a new country, there is a fourth phase known as the “mastery phase” where the person has adapted very well and has assimilated and able to participate in the new country’s culture. By adapting well to the new culture does not mean that the person has lost his/her identity of his country of origin. The person may still speak with the same accent, practised his/her religion, recognising his/her culture and still enjoying food from his/her native country. However, the person can now experience two different cultures. The person is in a good place called “bicultural” stage.

When I went to the US for my studies back in 1980s, technology was not as advanced as today. Computers, mobile phones and e-mails were very rare. As for Skype, Facetime, Tango and Viber, they were not in existence. I remembered at one time, AT&T (an American telephone company) was promoting their services on campus, especially to the foreign students. They were allowing people to make 1 minute phone call at no charge to anywhere in the world. Foreign students were queueing up, making long lines, just to get that rare opportunity to talk to their loved ones back home for free. As for me, I was fortunate as my brother and I lived in the same apartment and we get to speak to our parents at least once a week. We have to be mindful of the time difference as well. Living in different time zone also contributed to culture shock as well. When I was living in the US, I was yearning for news from back home, anything familiar that I thought would help me to adjust to life in this new country without losing the familiarity. My father would from time to time, cut interesting articles from various Malaysian newspapers and snail mail them to me. I was also in touch and corresponded with few of my classmates back in Klang at that time including a person by the name of Andrew Gerard Nathan whom unfortunately, I have lost in touch as time goes by. Each letter which I mailed to Malaysia, I would be anxiously waiting for a reply. It became such an obsession that I actually calculated that it will take 14 days to get a reply from Malaysia provided that the person reply to my letter almost immediately! My apartment had posters from beautiful holiday places in Malaysia pasted on the walls (courtesy of Tourism Malaysia) and not forgetting a Malaysian flag as well. There wasn’t any web surfing then, so I would frequently flipped through the Malaysia Year Book (there used to be a Year Book for every year) and reminiscing everything about Malaysia. So, as you can see, by not letting go, I am burying myself deep into culture shock.

Luckily for people like us who were in the US, we had a rough idea on how the life in the US was going to be, thanks to the Hollywood movies and TV shows shown in Malaysia at that time. The shows did not reflect the actual life in the US but were close enough. So, in that sense, the culture shock was cushioned slightly. I was in my second phase, “Negotiation Phase” when I realised that I needed to get my degree by hook or by crook. I was very fortunate to be studying at one of US top universities and I was going to make the best of it. Those days, to have a degree was a major thing. There was no such thing as twinning programme or degree mills. The only way to get a degree was to undergo a four year programme. The perseverance and the motivation kept me going and I was able to overcome “the negotiation phase”. The third phase of “adjustment” came quite easily when I made new friends not only with Americans but people from other countries such as Honduras, Guatemala, etc and found that they were all humans and have their own challenges. In other words, they were no different from you or me. The 4 years spent in the US were wonderful and it enriched me in more ways than one. Stay tune for the second part to this series.

Introducing the Australian Dispute Resolution Centre

It is great to be back! It has been a while since I wrote my last article. I have been spending quite a bit of time in planning and promoting the Australian Dispute Resolution Centre (ADRC) of which I currently served as the Director. The objective of ADRC is to promote, research and provide services in relation to resolving disputes involving people from different cultural background. This would include organising and conducting courses in relation to cross-cultural negotiation and communication skills. The ADRC is relatively new and one of ADRC’s unique feature is its seminar cum study tour to countries of different cultural background. The objective of the trip is to gain an understanding of that country’s  approach to negotiation, bargaining, decision making and settling of disputes as well as networking. The programme consists of a seminar and site visits to appreciate the local culture of that country.

ADRC is always looking for like minded partners to work, share and exchange ideas that will bring people from different cultures closer together. If you are interested in ADRC’s objectives or wants to know more, please feel free to contact me at st@adrc.net.au