Three weeks ago NUS hosted the National Sustainability Conference, addressing the need for Singapore to become sustainable, and how Singapore can influence the rest of the world to do the same. One of the speakers, from NewsAsia, brought up an interesting point. The main reason we don’t see sustainability addressed as much as we would like (or as much as is considered necessary) is because the people have not demanded it. There is a breakdown in communication, and it seems to be between science and the masses. Most people, even those who are aware of the climate crisis and the coming end of cheap fossil fuel, are not demanding change. The problem is not immediately tangible, in contrast to losing half of one’s retirement savings due to the economic crisis, and thus does not command attention.
What we need is a great communicator – such as a Mao Zedong, a Martin Luther King Jr, or a Barack Obama; someone whose voice can resonate with the masses, maybe just enough to move us past the tipping point. Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth” helped to do this, as it raised the awareness, especially of the immediacy of the issue.
In relation, the speaker said that people who are working to raise awareness, such as protestors and their organizers, need to go through media training. In such training, the student would learn to give a good sound bite that news producers all over would love to use, which would greatly increase the probability that the message is proliferated.
My question to the reader is: Given the immediacy of climate change, do we as citizens have time to wait for this motivator, or does this sort of change have to be driven by what we have – grass roots talking to people in your neighborhood?
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Intercultural communication
I was not here for the intercultural communication lesson, so I will tell and example of a personal cross cultural miscommunication.
Once when I was studying at a Chinese university, a young woman approached me in the library study room and we started talking. In the conversation, she had lavished praise that seemed a tad excessive. I misinterpreted this as an effort to flirt. She seemed friendly, and I figured that her type of approach was tantamount to an ask-out in China. As-per my policy of giving anyone who gathers the courage to ask someone out two dates/meetings, I asked her out. I was wrong. When I asked her out, in a respectful manner, she was flat-out shocked, and seemed a little offended or embarrassed. When I recounted the situation to my American friends, they were equally confused.
In a different situation and with a different girl, I merely asked if she wanted to meet at the cafeteria to eat dinner together. My thinking was, 'we all have to eat, and if we’re going to eat at the cafeteria, might as well eat together.' In the US, this does not constitute a date, but is rather in the grey area between date and just hanging out – it is not a date but could lead to a date. Well, this sweet young woman came decked out in a beautiful silk dress and makeup. I felt like a jerk. I was embarrassing her because I had not worn anything that special, just a standard polo shirt (I was thankful I had not donned a tshirt that morning). I was afraid that this miscommunication would be obvious to other students. I considered suggesting that we go to a nearby restaurant instead, but didn't as I thought it would tell her that I wanted to date. I have been told that it is normal for women to dress much better than men in these situations, and that I should not worry about it. Is that true? Should I have switched plans and offered to take her to a restaurant instead?
Once when I was studying at a Chinese university, a young woman approached me in the library study room and we started talking. In the conversation, she had lavished praise that seemed a tad excessive. I misinterpreted this as an effort to flirt. She seemed friendly, and I figured that her type of approach was tantamount to an ask-out in China. As-per my policy of giving anyone who gathers the courage to ask someone out two dates/meetings, I asked her out. I was wrong. When I asked her out, in a respectful manner, she was flat-out shocked, and seemed a little offended or embarrassed. When I recounted the situation to my American friends, they were equally confused.
In a different situation and with a different girl, I merely asked if she wanted to meet at the cafeteria to eat dinner together. My thinking was, 'we all have to eat, and if we’re going to eat at the cafeteria, might as well eat together.' In the US, this does not constitute a date, but is rather in the grey area between date and just hanging out – it is not a date but could lead to a date. Well, this sweet young woman came decked out in a beautiful silk dress and makeup. I felt like a jerk. I was embarrassing her because I had not worn anything that special, just a standard polo shirt (I was thankful I had not donned a tshirt that morning). I was afraid that this miscommunication would be obvious to other students. I considered suggesting that we go to a nearby restaurant instead, but didn't as I thought it would tell her that I wanted to date. I have been told that it is normal for women to dress much better than men in these situations, and that I should not worry about it. Is that true? Should I have switched plans and offered to take her to a restaurant instead?
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