Last year, I facilitated an exchange camp between Singapore and Thailand Secondary School students. It was certainly memorable as I got to observe loads of interesting cultural norms of the other country and got to work together with teachers from Thailand.
I especially remembered one incident where there was a huge misunderstanding that was caused by not understanding the other country’s culture.
The group I managed comprised of both Thai and Singaporean kids and I had a very playful boy from Singapore who was outcast by the entire group. The whole incident sparked off when this playful boy refused to sleep in the same direction as other boys. He instead chose to sleep with his legs facing the other boys’ head. Everyone in the room insisted him to shift but he just refused to do so hence they started arguing. It didn’t look like a problem to us but it was deemed as disrespectful and rude to the Thais. To them, they regard the head as the highest part of the body, both literally and figuratively hence we are not suppose to touch their head neither should we have our feet pointing at it. It was only after I explained it to him did he realized what he did was rude. Subsequently, he shifted his position.
Therefore, I think it will be good that we do some research and be sensitive about the culture of the country before we interact with the people from there so that we do not offend anyone at all.
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6 comments:
Hi Siew Cheng!
That sounded like a very interesting and fulfilling job! I'm sure you had an enjoyable and memorable experience despite this small incident. Being Malay, I'm actually surprised that the Thais have such a cultural norm, as this is exactly the same in Malay culture. Malays regard the head to be a very sacred part of the body, which should be showed with utmost respect and honour. As such, we frown on acts which have to do with physical contact of the head, such as hitting the head or like in your case, sleeping with the feet pointing in the direction of someone else's head.
I guess to make future camps less conflicted and more smooth, participants should be informed that cultural learning is to be expected, and that they should try not to be offended when the other party displays a cultural insensitivity. Instead, participants should strive to enlighten one another about their respective cultural practice, as this will lead to a more harmonious camp experience.
That's my humble view of your scenario. Hope you have a good time for future camps ahead!
Regards,
Abdullah
Hi Siew Cheng,
I totally agree with what both you and Abdullah recommended. Being an exchange camp, I am sure it was aimed at heightening each one's awareness for other cultures. Some participants may lack motivation to research on another culture beforehand. Hence, I have a suggestion that maybe on the first day of the camp, the facilitators can request each one to describe one unique aspect of their culture besides just their name. It may even be made into a mini game or quiz.
This can help facilitate actual learnings in the camp and may also set the right mood that learning each other's culture is the crux of this camp. Hope this is helpful.
Cheers,
Michelle
Hello Siew Cheng,
I hope that you have learnt a lot from your job as a facilitator for various activities! :) I think that you did a great job in trying to explain to the boy what he did wrong instead of punishing him and forcing him to do what is right. I think that you make a great facilitator! :)
In addition, many thanks for enlightening me about the fact that the Thais hold in high regard the head as compared to the other parts. This would indeed come in handy when I travel for Thailand in the future! :)
All the best and see you in class tomorrow!
Cheers,
Min Huey
Hey Siew Cheng,
That must have been an interesting experience for you! It's no wonder the thai boys are outcasting him as you and Abz has mentioned that head is the most scared part of the body.
I wondered why didn't the singaporean boy tried to find out why the thai boys were so angry. I guess it could be due to language barrier that they could not communicate properly.
Feet are also considered the most unclean part in thai culture, just like left hand as in Malay cultures. It is also very disrespectful for people to point their feet at others. They have special sitting positions in royal courts and temples to avoid point at royal family and the buddha. I think the thai boy must have been very angry.
Lastly, I guess the take-home message is to read up about the culture before going anywhere or at least be more sensitive when we're overseas.
Cheers,
Huixin
hey thanks so much for ypur replies plus the suggestions. If i ever facilitate another exchange students, I will sure consider all your suggestions. It was certainly a memorable experience. :)
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