Christopher Boyd says sitting in your 50th floor office, mobile phone in hand, reading about the problems of tigers eating the local livestock is but one of the many contrasts which makes life in Malaysia a long journey of discovery.
I am a long-term expat in Malaysia, having been here since 1974. My nationality is British, but I have permanent residence in Malaysia. By profession I am a Chartered Surveyor and a partner in Regroup, which is a firm of property valuers and agents. My wife is Malaysian and runs a nursery school.
Malaysia: Malaysia for the expatriate was once regarded as the “poor cousin” ranking well below Hong Kong and Singapore in importance and amenities. Increasingly it is the regional location of choice for foreign companies. Expats seldom have much problem settling in, and many plan to return here in retirement.
It is useful to think of Malaysia as really being three countries - the very cosmopolitan Klang Valley surrounding the capital Kuala Lumpur has every facet of a big city with modern buildings, hotels, parks and traffic jams.
Never very far away is the exotic countryside with its mountain ranges, endless plantations, jungle and coral beaches. Then, across the South China Sea, are the states which make up East Malaysia.
Japanese electronics giant NEC Corp. said Friday it has created a world-first real-time translator on a cellphone, which can instantly turn Japanese travellers’ words into English.
One second after the phone hears speech in Japanese, the cellphone with the new technology shows the text on the screen. One second later, an English version appears.
NEC said it was the first time in the world that automatic translation is available on a cellphone without external help.
The company made it possible by making the software, which includes a voice-recognition system and translation functions, compact enough to operate on a small microchip mounted in a cellphone, it said.
The software, which can recognise some 50,000 Japanese words, is especially designed for smooth translation of travel phrases such as “Can I have a subway route map?”.
With a population of 1.3 billion whose per capita income is expected to double over the next 10 years, and a consumer market that is expected to grow to $14 trillion by the year 2025, it’s no wonder foreign companies are investing billions to reach today’s Chinese consumer. Research reveals a growing demographic of generally younger, affluent, urban Chinese consumers who are willing to consider foreign brands.
The opportunity seems simple enough. But, foreign companies, beware: Chinese consumers aren’t as heavily influenced by traditional marketing channels and messages as consumers are elsewhere. While some multinational companies successfully reach the elusive Chinese consumer, others come up short because they fail to adapt their marketing approaches to incorporate factors that influence Chinese buying habits.
Challenge: As firms expand into more and more emerging markets, disparate regulations make it difficult to leverage compliance systems enterprisewide, forcing many companies to implement costly and often redundant point solutions to comply with local requirements.
Why It’s Important: While MiFID has unified oversight within the European Union, it actually has made compliance for U.S.-based firms that do business on both sides of the Atlantic more complicated. Also, U.S. firms have to comply with several different regulatory bodies in the U.S., including the SEC, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and state regulators. Further, as firms expand into more and more global markets, their compliance departments are burdened with responding to the complex local regulations, particularly in emerging markets such as China, Russia, Brazil and India.
Complying with disparate regulations not only requires knowledge of local rules, it often requires multiple technology solutions. “In the past, banks have always had a layer-on-layer, point solution, which is very expensive,” observes Peter Horowitz, SVP, managing director, financial services, at BearingPoint. Streamlining global regulations certainly would make compliance less onerous and less costly.
To the first-time International assignee to Singapore – or Asia for that matter – the mere thought of experiencing a wholly different culture is daunting enough. In addition to putting in his best work performance so as to make his expatriation experience worthwhile.
All is not lost if the assignee has made thorough preparations before his transfer. For instance, the following digestible tips that he could take note of when liaising or communicating with Singaporeans.
Although Singaporeans generally speak English with varying proficiency standards; the Assignee is advised to exercise due care given the cultural differences.
Small-talk
Small-talk is one of the most common traits observed by business communities across Southeast Asia. It also takes place between parties who meet for the first time. Making small-talk may be seen as a pointless time-wasting exercise for some Western executives.
Every now and again we get an international story that demonstrates the importance of cultural awareness in the modern age. Examples include the Israeli tourists kissing in a Hindu shrine, the movie poster that offended Buddhists and sparked protests in S.E. Asia or the now infamous Prophet Muhammad Cartoons.
It is again the Prophet of Islam who is the centre of attention in the latest example of intercultural incompetence. British teacher Gillian Gibbons, 54, is currently facing charges in Sudan on the grounds that she insulted Islam and incited hatred by allowing her class to name a teddy bear Muhammad. The story has again been pounced upon by the media as another example of Muslim extremism, irrationalility and their obvious discomfort with the “modern world”.
Firstly, it should be first stated that this is not a “Muslim” reaction. It was the reaction of some “over-senstive” parents (as quoted by Mr Khalid al Mubarak of the Sudanese embassy in London). Most Muslims appreciate this was simply an error of judgement based upon ignorance of the respect afforded to the Prophet within Islam. Many have publicly come out in support of Ms. Gibbons:
Muslim Council of Britain, (MCB)
“This is a disgraceful decision and defies common sense. There was clearly no intention on the part of the teacher to deliberately insult the Islamic faith. The children in Ms Gibbons’ class and their parents have all testified as to her innocence in this matter. We call upon the Sudanese President, Umar al-Bashir, to intervene in this case without delay to ensure that Ms Gibbons is freed from this quite shameful ordeal.”
Ramadhan Foundation
“The Ramadhan Foundation urges the Sudanese Authorities to immediately release Gillian Gibbons as she has not set out deliberately to offend or demonise Islam and Muslims,” said Mohammed Shafiq. “This matter is not worthy of arrest or detention and her continued detention will not help repair the misconceptions about Islam. Like migrants coming to this country have to learn English, our values and customs, it is imperative that British citizens learn the values, customs and beliefs of their adopted country.”
The reaction of the parents may be somewhat extreme but it does demonstrate that when the Prophet Muhammad is involved one always has to be careful, especially when in a conservative country such as Sudan. The crux of the matter here is that the decision to name the teddy bear was based on ignorance. This could have been something avoided through a simple cultural awareness course.
In any basic cultural awareness course on Islam, reverance towards the Prophet is always discussed and elaborated upon. Most people from Western Europe or North America do not appreciate the level of respect afforded to the Prophet and how this manifests. In ‘the West’, religion and Prophets are seen as open to criticism and ridicule in name of freedom of speech. However in more religious countries this is not tolerated. Within Islam it is an absolute no-no, whether it is Muhammad, Jesus (Isa), Moses (Musa) or Abraham (Ibrahim). The reason is that Muhammad is seen as the best of creation and the bringer of God’s final message to mankind. In a narration (hadith) of the Prophet he tells his followers:
“None of you believes until he loves me more than he loves his children, his parents, and all people.” In another hadith he says: “None of you believes until he loves me more than he loves himself.”
A man of this stature is therefore afforded the highest of respect. Jokes are therefore out and naming teddy bears is not really appropriate either.
The whole saga is though a prime example of why people really need cultural awareness training before they go to live and/or work in a foreign country. It opens their eyes to potential problems and challenges they may face as well as help them in the settling in process. Cultural awareness helps the foreign become less alien and most importantly less unexpected.
Below are some basic cultural awareness tips for expatriates planning to move to a foreign country:
* The easiest place to start is to get a good book that explains the local laws, customs, religion, society, etiquette and culture. There are now many websites that offer such information for free.
* Join a forum on the internet. Ask for advice and what cultural awareness tips they have.
* Try and learn some of the language - if you can not dedicate time to language lessons then why not learn some simple phrases?
* Draw upon friends or acquaintances that may be nationals of the country you are moving to. Seek their advice and insight.
* If kids are moving to then involve them as much as possible in building cultural awareness - give them small tasks that will slowly introduce them to their new homes.
* Once in the new country respect local customs and dress codes. As you are a guest in their country it is important not to behave in a manner that could offend people.
* Even if local customs and ways of doing things may be frustrating always remember that it does not make it wrong. People across the world simply do things differently.
* Pay attention to any religious observances especially in with less familiar religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism. In some countries there are restrictions on what can be eaten or worn.
* If you are ever unsure whether your behaviour is appropriate, simply observe what the locals do and follow their lead.
Written by Neil Payne, Kwintessential’s Middle East trainer.
As part of Kwintessential’s growing suite of free translation and intercultural communication tools, we have today released our very latest edition. Those of our web-savvy readers will be aware that some website pages carry a little tool that allows you to email the page to a friend, family or colleague. The idea being that word of mouth spreads the news about that service or article. Our new tool is basically a newer, more international, version that allows you to send the website page but in a foreign language. So if you are reading a news article that you know your French colleague would find of interest, it can now be sent them in French.
The tool is a CAT (computer assisted translation) so is not 100% accurate, but does nevertheless offer a level of accuracy to allow readers to understand the website page in their language.
Other free tools available include:
> Free Email Translation - send emails in French, Spanish, Italian, German and Portuguese for free!
Schools are struggling to cover the cost of providing specialist teachers for thousands of new immigrant pupils, headteachers warned today.
Forty per cent of primary age children in London now speak a language other than English at home and some schools take several new arrivals a week as pupils “appear from nowhere”, heads have said.
The National Association of Head Teachers called for schools to be given the “infrastructureî they needed to get pupils whose first language is not English fluent enough to cope with the national curriculum as soon as possible.Read more> Language
Croatia rose to the occasion in their crucial Euro 2008 defeat of England - after an apparent X-rated gaffe by an English opera singer at Wembley.
Tony Henry belted out a version of the Croat anthem before the 80,000 crowd, but made a blunder at the end.
He should have sung ‘Mila kuda si plania’ (which roughly means ‘You know my dear how we love your mountains’).
But he instead sang ‘Mila kura si planina’ which can be interpreted as ‘My dear, my penis is a mountain.’
Now Henry could be one of the few Englishmen at the Euro 2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland as Croatian fans adopt him as a lucky omen.
They believe his mistake relaxed their chuckling players, who scored an early goal in the 3-2 win that put Croatia top of the group and knocked out England.Read more> BBC
The Chartered Institute of Marketing’s latest newsletter features a nice little article by Kwintessential’s Neil Payne on cross-cultural communication when working internationally.
Culture affects everything we do. It is a shared framework of understanding and a basis for communication. For marketers who work internationally or interact regularly with counterparts overseas, poor understanding of each others cultural background can lead to uncomfortable situations, bad decisions and ineffective relationships.
Dutch Professor Geert Hofstede developed the first model for measuring how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. Though dating from the 70s, his theory can still help reduce levels of frustration, anxiety and concern. It can improve your understanding of other cultures and success in global team situations.
Hofstede concluded that there are 5 dimensions to cultural cross-communications. By knowing how a culture measures up on each scale you can understand their behaviour and relate to them more effectively.
“Cultural know-how can be a great advantage in a competitive market but it has the potential to play havoc with relationships. It is critical to be aware of the differences. This means taking the time to research cultures, appreciate needs, moulding your concepts and ideas and most importantly communicating in a suitable manner”.
Neil Payne, Kwintessential
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