Intercultural Communication and Translation News

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.

Read more> C. Boyd 

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?”.

Read more> NEC

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.

Read more> China

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.

Read more> Global Compliance

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.

Read more> Expatica 

Country Profile> Singapore