Living in a multi-cultural society like Singapore, one always has to be conscious of his actions/words when he is around people with various cultural backgrounds to ensure harmony. However, one can be only conscious if he is aware of the norms and values of the cultures.
I witnessed an intercultural conflict (or rather I would say a small misunderstanding), which arose from my lack of awareness. When I was in secondary school, afew of my classmates visited my malay friend, Din, for Hari Raya. Din was preparing drinks for us while we were sitting in his room and chatting. When Din returned to his room to give us the drinks, he suddenly burst at us, “ What are you doing? Get off the carpet!!”. We were dumbfounded. We quickly stood up and moved away from the carpet. Little did we realize that the carpet was actually his prayer carpet? I could still remember him angrily saying, “ Do you know how sacred the carpet is?”. All of us felt really guilty and profusely apologized to him. We mistook the prayer carpet for a normal carpet as it was laid near his bed. After awhile he calmed down and accepted that it was an unintentional mistake. He said that he would just buy a new prayer carpet, as this carpet cannot be used again. The prayer carpet must not to be handled by the foot.
Our action might be unintentional but the incident did hurt Din. I felt bad for upsetting our host on his festive day. Though we could not differentiate between a prayer carpet and a normal carpet as both looked similar, I felt that if we had more knowledge about the prayer carpet, we could have prevented the incident. We would have been more conscious in dealing with the carpets in the house. Din also could have prevented this incident if he had placed his prayer carpet in a corner or warned us about the sacredness of the carpet when we went to his room.
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Hi Rathi!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very insightful post! I never knew that Muslim prayer carpets cannot be handled by the foot. Now I know better to watch out for any carpets in the house when I go visit my Muslim friends!
Anyway, I agree with you that both parties are at fault. The guests should have been more informed about the Muslim culture since they knew that they were going to a Muslim household. The host on the other hand should be more careful with important things like his prayer items especially since he knew that guests of different races were visiting.
I believe that all these boils down to the lack of understanding for each others cultures, which then leads to conflicts. Everyone is after all proud of their own culture and would jump to defend their beliefs before thinking twice.
Overall, I think your blog post was a pleasant read and it was clear and concise. A very good post indeed! =)
Cheers,
Shu Ting
Hi Rathi,
ReplyDeleteWow I learnt something today again. Blog posts can actually be very educational and informative.
It seems that Din was really very upset about his prayer carpet and how important he regarded his sacred prayer carpet. I could imagine and understand his initial outburst. But it was good to hear that he eventually calmed down and this did not hurt the friendship you all had. Maybe you all could have suggested splitting the cost for his new prayer carpet?
Yup you are spot on about the solutions! Though I do not think Din could have thought of hiding his carpet or educating his guests. I still believe that it all stems to education which is what we have been missing out in schools. Knowledge in such intercultural elements and religious teachings would definitely have prevented such incidents from happening.
Love,
Huiwen
Hi Rathi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing with us this incident. I never knew about the sacredness of the carpet other than it is used for praying.
First of all, it was very nice of Din to invite you and your friends to his place to share such a joyous occasion. With regard to the incident, I feel that it takes two hands to clap. On one hand, Din should have kept the carpet before any non-muslim friends visited, since the carpet is so sacred. However, on the other hand, the guests shouldn't have conveniently 'make themselves feel at home' or at least be more informed about the cultural norms before the visit.
In short, one must not take for granted another person's culture and also assume that everyone knows the cultural boundaries. Understanding other cultures is of paramount importance not only in a business setting, but also in a social setting as you've illustrated.
On a closing note, your post is simple and direct which makes it a pleasant read. Keep it up! =P
Cheers,
Mario
Hi Shu Ting, Hui Wen and Mario,
ReplyDeleteGlad all of you learnt something new from my post..Like what you have said,one should never take other cultures for granted and respect other culture the same way we respect our own culture...Thanks for your idea Hui Wen!
Cheers,
Rathi