The Culture of Singapore
Discuss about the Culture and Pulblic Relations.
Culture and public relations share a close relation with each other, where one could be termed as a complementary of the other. Culture refers to the customs and the social practices that bind the people of the society together. The culture of each country is formed with the combination of various localized culture. However, the overall culture in a country remains the same. This assignment highlights the culture of Singapore. The culture of Singapore is mainly influenced by the combination of the European and the Asian cultures. This country is often referred to as the meeting place of the Eastern and the Western culture. Public relations also have an essential role to play in relation to culture. The culture of a country highlights the ways public relations are maintained. The culture of some country ensures that the public relations are maintained cordially, while in some other culture, the public relations are met formally.
Culture and Public relations cannot be seen as two separate entities. A multicultural society paves the way for a better public relations in the society (Kurin, 2015). Various components of the multicultural practices that have considerable impact on the public relations are:
- Interdependence: With a rich culture, the people of the country develop interdependency of each other, irrespective of the variations in culture (Bhasin, Venkataramany & Ng, 2015). Thus, a rich cultural diversity is observed and public relations among the people of the country are enriched.
- Cultural sensitivity: With a positive and healthy public relations, the cultural sensitivity among the people of the country is developed (Eller, 2014). The people became sensitive towards the culture of each other and they respect the culture of each other as well. This, in turn enriches the culture and the society of a country.
- Diversity and its values: The people and the society learn to value and acknowledge diversity. The enhancement of public relations is witnessed as the perception of the people towards multicultural society becomes positive (Kurin, 2015).
- Resolution of conflicts: Multicultural diversity gives rise to conflicts. Resolution of conflicts is seen if multicultural diversity is accepted and public relations are enhanced.
- Symmetrical communication: Cultural stability opens the ways for long-term relationships and mutual understanding, thus, enhancing public relations (Eller, 2014).
The study of human beings is referred to as anthropology. The study of human beings is an essential component of culture. The lives of human beings along with the culture and the lifestyle they follow are an integral part of culture (Keesing, 2013). The behaviour of human beings and their interpersonal relations are considered as an essential component of culture and public relations. Cultural anthropology also encompasses the ideas and values along with the other domains of the cognitive society (Eller, 2014). Thus, the relation between culture and anthropology is intense along with enhancement of the public relations. An in-depth understanding of the knowledge of the people belonging to various culture, along with identifying the differences in culture enhances public relations. This is also followed by enhancement of culture and enhanced multicultural diversity (Bhasin, Venkataramany & Ng, 2015). Anthropology studies the human beings and all the attributes related to human beings, thus encompassing culture and public relations (Warner, 2014). For example, the culture of Singapore is a rich one, with a history. The people and the society have a multicultural diversity yet lives in harmony in the diverse culture. Thus, the richness of the culture and heritage enhances the public relations in Singapore.
Multicultural Society and Public Relations
Ethnography is defined as the activity of discovering the intricate features of culture. It is the activity of discovering the culture and describing the values and customers, habits and foods of the people of that particular culture. Ethnographic fieldwork could be also termed as the hallmark of the cultural anthropology (Keesing, 2013). This includes the participation in the various cultural activities, tasting the traditional food as well as experiencing the various customs of the culture of Singapore (Kong, 2015). Ethnography is strictly a practical activity with limited theoretical work. Rather than studying the culture and the people, ethnography highlights learning from the people and their culture (Bhasin, Venkataramany & Ng, 2015). Learning from the people and their culture enhances the public relations. For example, the culture of Singapore is warm and they welcome the people of other culture heartily (Miller et al., 2014). However, no such traits are seen in the western world. Thus, the people from various other parts of the world could carry out ethnographic activities thus paving way for multicultural society as well as enhanced public relations (Hayakawa & Venieris, 2016). The climate, flora and fauna also cast a significant impact on the culture of the people. Thus, ethnography, culture and the public relations are inseparable and intrinsically attached to each other (Bhasin, Venkataramany & Ng, 2015). Thus, culture, public relations and ethnography cannot be separated from each other.
Cultural interdependency is defined as the collaboration of various culture and people belonging to different culture in order to fulfil a bigger goal (Warner, 2014). Cultural interdependence is only possible if multicultural diversity is accepted and practiced widely. In case of Singapore, the people and their culture are flexible (Fiske & Taylor, 2013). They gladly accept the people of various other culture and ensures that cultural interdependency is carried out successfully. Moreover, even the culture of Singapore is composed of various small-localised cultures (Eller, 2014). Thus, cultural dependency has a major role to play in achieving harmony in the society. Acceptance of the culture of each other along with the acceptance of the different customs and practices, along with respecting them enough is important (Keesing, 2013). Cultural interdependency creates and promotes a healthy public relation (Bhasin, Venkataramany & Ng, 2015). Cultural interdependency highlights how the people belonging to the various cultures interact with each other and how much they are ready to accept and respect the differences (Fiske & Taylor, 2013). Lack of effective interaction and respect towards each other will result in ineffective cultural interdependency. This is not desirable in any society and lack of interdependency affects the culture of a society adversely (Hayakawa & Venieris, 2016). Moreover, public relations are also degraded if the cultural interdependency is not effective. For example, Singapore is culturally dependent on the Eastern and Western counties as the culture is strongly influenced by the Eastern as well as the Western world (Kong, 2015). However, the western countries do not have any cultural interdependencies with the eastern countries. Another example is that the food habits of the people of Singapore are found to have Eastern and Western traits, whereas the costumes they wear are also culturally interdependent (Kim, 2017). Thus, with the cultural interdependency, the public relations are enhanced as the people learn to accept the culture and customs of each other, respecting the differences.
Anthropology and Culture
Culture and sub-culture has a strong effect on culture as well as the occupation of the people living in a society. The occupational culture is developed through social interactions among the people of various cultures and mutual support among each other (Fiske & Taylor, 2013). Moreover, common training of the people, similar goals set and the similarities of the personal characteristics in a particular occupational group are essential for occupational culture (Beugelsdijk, Kostova, & Roth, 2017). The occupational culture could be achieved successfully, if the society is prepared for the cultural diversity and dependency on each other. Moreover, the public relations are enhanced in the occupational culture, if they are based on the platform of a multicultural society (Kim, 2017). Lack of effective occupational culture will affect the culture at the workplace, where people belonging to different culture will not work in harmony (Shaw, 2017). Before occupational culture is achieved, it is essential to achieve multicultural diversity and harmony in the society (Wagner, 2016). In order to understand and achieve occupational culture, it is essential to identify and understand the various dimensions (Keesing, 2013). According to Hofstede, the six dimensions of organizational culture are: power distance index, normative versus pragmatic, individualism verses collectivism, Masculinity verses Femineity, Uncertainty avoidance index, Indulgence verses Restraint (Beugelsdijk, Kostova, & Roth, 2017).
Power distance index: This is defined as the degree of inequality that is seen among the people without power as well as people with power in any organization (Rallapalli & Montgomery, 2015). A high score in the PDI highlights the fact that the society and the organization accept inequality in the hierarchy (Soh, 2016). However, for example, in the society and culture of Singapore, the PDI score is relatively low, highlighting the fact that multicultural harmony and equality in the organizations are accepted.
Individualism verses collectivism: This quality in occupational culture refers to the strength of the employees within the community of their own (Shaw, 2017). A high score refers to the fact that there is hardly any interpersonal connection among the people belonging to the multicultural society (Warner, 2014). However, in a collectivist society, people work in teams with strong interpersonal communication and interactions, thus supporting the needs of each other (Bhasin, Venkataramany & Ng, 2015).
Masculinity verses Femineity: This is referred to as the distribution in the roles of the men and the women (Rallapalli & Montgomery, 2015). In a society that is masculine, the roles of the men and the women are discriminated and demonstrations of being strong are highlighted as positive traits (Kim, 2017). However, in a feminine society, the virtues such as modesty and humbleness are highlighted as great virtues. In the occupational culture of Singapore, for example, the MAS score is low, highlighting the fact that they are more focused on the quality lifestyle and culture and not on success and money (Kong, 2015).
Ethnography and Public Relations
Uncertainty avoidance index: This refers to the situation in which the people are able to understand and avoid the uncertain situations (Bhasin, Venkataramany & Ng, 2015). In the culture of Singapore, for example, the UAI index is quiet high. Thus, they are conservative and rigid, and the portray lack of openness to changes as well s innovations (Fiske & Taylor, 2013).
Pragmatic versus Normative: The countries having a high score of PRA tends to be modest and pragmatic. Moreover, they are also long-term oriented. The countries that score low are much more religious and nationalistic (Hayakawa & Venieris, 2016). US have a normative score, as the people are short-term goals oriented and believe in quick results. However, the society of Singapore is Pragmatic as they believe in long-term goals.
Indulgence versus restraint: Countries that have higher IVR score are free spirited and are driven by their own emotions (Keesing, 2013). However, in Singapore, for example, the IVR scores are quite low, thus highlighting the facts that they emphasise on suppressing their emotions are abiding to the rules set by the society.
Thus, occupational culture has a key role to play in the enhancement of public relations.
The post modernism is a movement that is a reaction to the social culture between the 16th and 20th century. In the postmodernism, three areas of capitalism are highlighted (Lash, 2014). These are the market capitalism, monopoly capitalism and the consumer capitalism. These three characteristics are prominent and cast a strong impact on the society and its culture (Nicholson, 2013). In the culture of Singapore, post-modernism traits are not followed.
Culture shares a strong relation with public relations. The culture and social practices along with the customs that are followed in the society paves the way for multicultural society. With the acceptance in the diversity among the various cultures in the society, the public relations are enhanced. The people belonging to various cultures learn to accept the people of other cultures, thus enhancing public relations. Moreover, the various key concepts of culture such as anthropology, ethnography, cultural interdependency, occupational culture and postmodernism. These have a strong impact on the culture of Singapore and enhance the public relations among the multicultural people. However, if the society and culture of Singapore does not call for harmony in the multicultural backdrop, then public relations are witnessed to be degraded. The culture of Singapore is strongly influenced by the Eastern and the Western culture. Hence, a perfect blend among the two is essential.
References
Beugelsdijk, S., Kostova, T., & Roth, K. (2017). An overview of Hofstede-inspired country-level culture research in international business since 2006. Journal of International Business Studies, 48(1), 30-47.
Bhasin, B., Venkataramany, S., & Ng, L. K. (2015). Modifying Culture to Advance Economic Growth: The Case of Singapore. In Nationalism, Cultural Indoctrination, and Economic Prosperity in the Digital Age (pp. 52-65). IGI Global.
Eller, J. D. (2014). Introducing anthropology of religion: culture to the ultimate. Routledge.
Fiske, S. T., & Taylor, S. E. (2013). Social cognition: From brains to culture. Sage.
Hayakawa, H., & Venieris, Y. (2016). Consumer interdependence via reference groups. In Behavioral Interactions, Markets, and Economic Dynamics (pp. 81-99). Springer Japan.
Keesing Felix, M. (2013). Cultural anthropology the science of custom. Rinehart And Company Inc; New York.
Kim, S. (2017). National culture and public service motivation: investigating the relationship using Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 83(1_suppl), 23-40.
Kong, L. (2015). Food, foodways and foodscapes: Culture, community and consumption in post-colonial Singapore. World Scientific.
Kurin, R. (2015). Producing Anthropology: Culture of, by, and for the People. General Anthropology, 22(1), 1-5.
Lash, S. (2014). Sociology of postmodernism. Routledge.
Miller, J., Wroblewski, M., Villafuerte, J., Madrid, A. L., & Toronto, S. S. (2014). Creating a Kaizen Culture. McGrow Hill, New York.
Nicholson, L. (2013). Feminism/postmodernism. Routledge.
Rallapalli, K. C., & Montgomery, C. D. (2015). Marketing Strategies For Asian-Americans: Guidelines Based on Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions. In Minority Marketing: Research Perspectives for the 1990s (pp. 73-77). Springer International Publishing.
Shaw, K. (2017). Introduction. In Cosmopolitanism in Twenty-First Century Fiction (pp. 1-26). Springer International Publishing.
Soh, K. (2016). Teaching Chinese Culture in Singapore Schools. In Teaching Chinese Language in Singapore (pp. 179-188). Springer Singapore.
Wagner, R. (2016). The invention of culture. University of Chicago Press.
Warner, M. (2014). Culture and management in Asia. Routledge
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