Singapore is a young nation, only 57 years old, but it has grown extremely quickly. In fact, Singapore just surpassed Hong Kong as Asia’s top financial center, making it a perfect city for a business student to visit. Singapore has immaculate architecture, consisting of unique, modern high rises in addition to well-maintained, original shop-structures, clean and orderly streets, an incredible public transportation system, and multitude of cultures, which I assume all shape how business is conducted here. I am excited to experience and learn more about Singapore’s business environment throughout the rest of my trip.
In Singapore, there is not just one predominant ethnicity or language because Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore?s founding father, wanted to people to hold on to their native cultures of the Chinese, Malay, Indian, or English, but it seems as though the ethnic groups remain fairly separate. The nation is sectioned into China Town, Little India, and Arab Street, geographic areas in which the different cultures live and operate shops. We refer to America as a “melting pot,” where cultures blend and integrate to create new hybrid cultures and traditions, but Singapore is more like a chunky stew. There are pockets of different cultures that have stayed true to their age-old traditions, instead of blending with the other main cultures. People also seem to identify with the same religion of their ancestors. The Malay are Muslim, Indians are Hindu, and Chinese are Buddhist. I am interested in learning if any of the religions have begun to overlap or merge, but it seems as though they have remained separate and true to their origins.
Upon my first impression, some of the other main differences between the cultures in Singapore and American culture include the importance of family, as well as the way people dress. Our tour instructor, Don, told us that it is shocking that in America, people move out of their parents? home at 18 years old. He said that people here continue to live with their parents until they get married. It is tremendously hard to receive government-subsidized housing if you are young and unmarried. It seems as though the family-unit is of higher cultural value in Singapore than in America. Additionally, people tend to dress more professionally in Singapore than we do in America. American ?athleisure? is uncommon in Singapore. Many women wear dresses and high heels, where men wear button downs. Don even reminds us to wear business casual on the days we have industry visits, but for him, he is wearing ?everyday? clothes.
Throughout my time in Singapore, I hope to gain further insight into how businesses operate in light of its Eastern, family-oriented, communal cultures, compared to America?s individualistic business practices. I also hope to try food from each of the main ethnicities represented in Singapore.
