Having had driving experience numbering at least three years, I have seen my own fair share of incidents and accidents; one increasing disturbing issue is the exhibition of road worthiness from China immigrants akin to that customary in the rural parts of their country. Most of them do not only jaywalk; they do it in such a fashion that endangers both themselves, others, and drivers alike. They cycle openly on roads instead of sticking to the double yellow lines. Some, nonchalantly oblivious to an increasingly impatient driver that may well make them part of the road, refuse to give way to the latter. A common eyesore is those blatantly walking across the road and pedestrian crossings (even with the red man lighted up) without a care in the world.
Now and again I reluctantly lift my finger to tap the horn at them when they get too caught-in-their-own-world to realise the impending danger, and I have to admit I do get frustrated, occasionally angry with them. But while doing this blog post, it made me wonder: is it due to intercultural differences? Could it be that back in their homeland, it is a common sight for them to cycle alongside vehicles and even walk on the roads? Traffic lights were scarce? Or that anything more than 2 wheels must have been considered alien?
Perhaps it is due to their road culture, that they do not realise that their road behavior in Singapore is potentially hazardous to everyone around them, and themselves. Attempts could be made to educate them on road worthiness. But until that happens, we as courteous citizens can only try our best to look out for them on the roads.
Hi Desmond,
ReplyDeleteAs a China immigrant, I feel an impulse to respond to this post. With mixed feelings (not good as you can expect), I am TRYING to make my words below objective.
My time here is not long enough and I don’t drive; I may not be in a good position to judge. But if my compatriots from China make the bulk of those who show ignorance of road rules, I make my sincerest apology here.
In China, bicycles are popular due to its affordability and are promoted due to its environment-friendliness and health-friendliness; As a result, there are cycle lanes designated on roads in main cities like Beijing. But Singapore seems not to be so friendly to cycling. I guess some of the cyclists may not be aware that they should keep to the left edge of roads or the double lines.
As for jaywalking, maybe no one can raise up his/her hand saying he/she never does that. Maybe qualities of China Chinese are not as high as Singaporeans on a whole due to various reasons.
But I can’t agree with your sweeping statements about China as described in the paragraph “Back in their homeland ***********alien!” I would say it’s stereotype. Welcome to China and back up your words with some proofs!
Regards,
Nie Jing
Hi Nie Jing,
ReplyDeleteI welcome your comment. Since you require examples, i shall quote mine to illustrate a clearer picture to you.
As the saying goes, 无风不起浪。 If you require, i will gladly show you videos excerpts of China workers endangering themselves by not following stipulated rules that are meant to be followed, which would be humiliating in my opinion. One common example would be cycling on the roads, particularly on their way home after work,without blinking hazard lights mounted behind in the dark. Take note that this is a breach of law in Singapore's context. Just 2 days ago, another person was cycling right in the middle of a two lane road, it really bewildered me how a person can i)be able to not hear a car coming from behind assuming he has no problems with hearing or ii)be so self-centered to think he has the right of way to cycle in the middle of a lane and be a hindrance to everyone as well as a hazard to his life.
I believe you do not have to extend your apologies to myself if you have not faulted in anyway as described above. However, your definition of sterotyping would, in my context, be that of familiarity breeding nuisance. Perhaps you should take a walk around the neighbourhoods when you have the time.
I have tried to be as objective as possible in this reply with your comment as an examplar. Let us bear in mind this is meant as an academic blog; let the voicing of personal opinions remain in where they belong, i.e. in public forums.
Hi Desmond,
ReplyDeleteLooking at intercultural behaviour on the road is certainly a refreshing perspective on this topic! Due to different traffic conditions and cultures, people would have held different opinions on how one should cross the road or drive their vehicles.
In fact, it reminds me of India’s traffic condition which I had read when you mentioned that you reluctantly lift your finger to tap the horn and get frustrated sometimes. In some large cities in India like New Delhi, the roads are congested and chaotic with pedestrians, bicycles, bullock, overloaded trucks and buses. Therefore, it is common to hear chorus of horning by drivers.
In their culture, drivers should give way to pedestrians or horn at them to warn them of danger instead of the usual rule of pedestrians looking out for vehicles. Moreover, drivers there have to watch out for cow which is regarded as a holy animal and would risk being attacked by passer-bys if they hit one. Hence, it is really a great contrast to road condition in Singapore where drivers horn at pedestrian when they get frustrated and pedestrians get offended when being horn at. The vast differences can be attributed to scarcity of land and the fast pace of life in Singapore. Furthermore, we are taught from young to watch out for road safety instead of leaving all of the responsibility to the drivers.
Similarly, some Chinese in Singapore are accustomed to the way of life in their homeland and might not have recognized this cultural difference. It is just looking at the issue from different perspectives. If we had asked them for their views, they might also find local drivers inconsiderate or impatient. However, it is important to note that one should assimilate into the culture of the place one is currently in so as to integrate into the local community and reduce intercultural conflict.
In my opinion, your frank comments are appreciated but it would be great if you can describe your thoughts more tactfully. Thanks for giving such an interesting critique!
Regards,
Jie Li
Hi Desmond,
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting post which I could easily relate to. You handled this sensitive topic well and I agree that being magnanimous on the roads when encountering such situations is probably the best we can do for now.
Having around 3 years of driving experience as well, I have noticed similar situations of pedestrians from China not obeying traffic rules. My acquaintances are commonly encountered in school when often I have to brake or even halt for them when they ignorantly cross in front of my moving car. They tend to seem oblivious to cars on the road or take for granted that the car would stop for them. After encountering many of such situations, I thought that it could be the norm for China residents to behave like that. I have recollections of similar situations occurring when I visited part of China such as Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming and Yunnan. I have noticed that in their country, residents there have a right of way on the road, unlike in Singapore. Thus, traffic practices here may be foreign to them and they might require time to get used to it.
This said, I am aware of the dangers of stereotyping that China citizens do not obey traffic rules in Singapore. Those whom I have acquainted with may not be entirely representative of the entire China populace. Moreover, Singaporean pedestrians may be guilty of not obeying traffic rules as well. However, having observed that most of these dangerous encounters on the roads are attributed to China residents, it is difficult not to have a biased perception of them.
Such topics on cultural differences are sensitive to discuss especially when we are in a multi-cultural society and there is daily contact with China residents here. Such discussion should be handled with respect for all cultures involved. If our perception of them is true, we should also understand that it is hard to change one’s culture to be in line with another’s, especially when one might have yet to be assimilated into our culture.
As such, cultural understanding tolerance should be reinforced or unintended conflict could results. Importantly, we should also understand one’s culture before extrapolating our observations to be representative of the entire cultural group to avoid having biased perceptions of people from a different cultural background.
Cheers,
Bryan
Hey Desmond,
ReplyDeleteFirstly, it is nice of you to touch on such a sensitive topic. However there are many dangers to do so, that I am sure you are aware of.
I always wonder about stereotyping people. In fact I did a module that talks about stereotyping. People use stereotypes for many reasons. The problems that come with it I am sure most are aware of, however the positive aspect of stereotyping are seldom acknowledged.
We see most stereotypes from movies and other forms of media. However, most of them use or portray stereotype in order to paint a picture for the audience who have never truly experience that situation. Although it is an incomplete picture, it does help.
I certainly believe that this is the situation here. I am fairly certain that you do not mean every single person from China flout our traffic rules, and place themselves and other road users at considerable risk. I read it as, you see people that ride their bicycles recklessly on the streets and a majority of them are from China.
However, such comments could be seen as stereotyping. This was further build up upon by you stating the other road violation that the people from China commit. You were trying to be objective by showing a cultural difference between China and Singapore and used a stereotype to help bring the message across.
But, I feel that the words could have been phrase differently. In fact, this post and comments could be roughly considered as a conflict due to miscommunication.
Cheers, Ryan
Hi Desmond!
ReplyDeleteAllow me to join in the bandwagon here.
I do empathize with you and can attest to your observations. Ironically, you're part of this conflict and it is not surprising that there is some bias against the other party.
Indeed, there are some behaviourial patterns by the China Chinese in Singapore that some locals find appalling. However, having said that, it is very easy to over-generalise and stereotype them. I do concede that all it takes is one rotten apple in a crate of apples to spoil the rest of the apples and your conflict is analogous to this.
Your conflict is much more complex as it looks as there are many underlying concerns but let's not go there.
With regard to the conflict, all is needed is tolerance and understanding- the kind that our Government indoctrinated us to be in our multicultural society. And I like Jieli's example on India's road conditions and I totally agree with her.
Overall, I like your post. It is concise and pleasant to read (haha!) Thanks for sharing with us your thoughts. I truly appreciate it.=)
Oh and I sense a launching of a new Singapore campaign coming up...
Cheers,
Mario