Independence and optimism are some of the cultural difference between Singaporeans and the Germans. When I was in Germany during this June for an immersion trip, my German friend told me that he was asked to leave home when he was 18 years old. I was quite surprised, although I remembered hearing of such practice before. Back then, I was quite skeptical about it, and felt that it should not be true. In Singapore, most children will not ever leave their parents' house until the day they are married. This is partly due to the Housing policy by Housing and Development Board (HDB) which only allows newly-wed couples or singles who are thirty-five years old and above to purchase a new flat. Thus, this policy limits people to rent as an alternative which maybe rather costly. However, even if such policy does not exist, I believe Singaporeans' parents will not encourage such practice. Most parents are observed to be protective over their children and would prefer keeping them by their side, even after their children have gotten married. Such practice is rather interesting and bold as it throws the teenagers into deep sea and forces them to be independent.
When I was in Germany, it was during the World Cup Season. The Germans were aggressively supporting their team in the World Cup. When the German team won, the whole street will be full of cheers and celebrations, and that was how we inferred the outcome of a match without watching. However, there was a match that the Germans lost, and we misinterpreted that they won. The street was still very lively and the Germans were singing and cheering, which leads us to think that they won. When a German approached us during our meal, we asked about their winning score. Surprisingly, they told us that they had lost. This left us puzzled, because, if it was back in Singapore, and the supporting team was to lose, we will definitely be acting the other way round. I guess I can only conclude as, the Germans are very optimistic people
Hey Lynette,
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in Vietnam, it was during the World Cup season. Hence, there will always be foreigners draped in their nation's colours or flags, parading in the streets regardless of the score.
We need such a culture here in Singapore, to support our team regardless of the outcome. I've heard of how Singaporeans would gather in droves at the football stadium when our team has the chance to win the championship (the Asian Cup finals many years ago I believe), but when its an ordinary game the stadium would be practically void of Singaporeans. Even so, we have witnessed that Singaporeans are supporting our teams more, especially during the Youth Olympic Games.
Anyway, thanks for printing out the Evaluation Table for me for today's mock job interview.
ReplyDeleteHello Lynette!
ReplyDeleteI was there too when you experienced all these. Similarly, I find these sights very fancinating and I think it is something that we do not really see everyday back at home.
Another thing that I find particularly interesting is their precision with time. For instance the precision of their train arrival time is correct to exact minute and the trains will strictly adhere to the particular arrival time. Even for meeting times, they tend to give exact time as well. This is very much unlike what we have where we will give a range of time plus or minus five minutes and even so, being late is still pretty much tolerated in our society for most meetings.