Evaluating Intercultural Behavior

Culture varies across different social groups and has certain symbolic meanings attached to different cultural actions or words. However not everyone understands the different cultures of different people and this is when conflict may arise, effecting in some minor consequences to perhaps a fight?


One cultural conflict that I witnessed was at the workplace, in the office. It was near lunchtime and so everyone had staggered timings to go for lunch, so being the one with the earliest timeslot, I had the opportunity to witness this situation. Colleague A was a Malay permanent female staff while colleague B was a new (Singaporean) Chinese part-time female staff (just like me). Colleague A had came back from lunch and all lunch time slots were almost over but she saw that colleague B has yet to go for her lunch and was continuously at work all the while.


Colleague B had emailed me to tell me that she had abdominal pain, so she could barely walk around or make her way down for lunch thus I was tasked to buy some snacks back for her. Colleague A, on the other hand understood from another permanent staff that colleague B indeed stayed in the office all the time and was at her work desk (instead of the pantry) during her lunch time slot, so she became very unhappy that colleague B was being so hardworking. However, colleague B hardly did much work; she merely picked up a few calls. She was so frustrated that she totally ignored colleague B and gave her cold shoulder and had poor attitude towards colleague B. Colleague B was in the dark until the same permanent staff informed her about the issue.


I felt that Colleague B was being treated unfairly by colleague A and surely felt the unjustness in me. Colleague B reasoned that since she was at her work desk, she might as well get some work done and I thought the same too. I feel that it is not about trying to eagerly show everyone (the managers) that she was hardworking but just a 'matter of convenience', which may compromise a tinge of diligence - she is willing to work even though it was her lunch time.


This conflict arose due to the fact that the Malay colleague was more of a lazy person while the Chinese was more hardworking, so to speak. Such cultural differences at the workplace are bound to lead to conflicts because the Malay would deem that the Chinese is trying to outshine the rest, which may not necessarily be the case as it could simply be that she grew up with the cultural mindset of not being afraid that hardworking or working during lunchtime is equivalent to 'losing out' (since one is not paid).

Intercultural interactions if not appropriately dealt with may lead to cultural conflicts, which if not resolved amicably may lead to cultural stand-off for the parties involved. Thus, it is vital to understand each other's cultures and to communicate effectively to try to minimise the possibility of a conflict in the first place or resolve the inevitable conflict harmoniously


I think that at a workplace, it is best to try to 'play by the rules', so that at the end of the day, one can mingle and work well with the rest of the colleagues.