Being in BSP, I have the privilege to learn
CDE as one of my subjects. This is a good chance of learning the different
cultures of the East and West. This made me not regret joining BSP as the other
special programmes doesn’t have this course. Learning the cultures of the East
and West is important as China and USA are the two most power influential
countries in the world. Learning the cultures makes us understand them and we
will be able to cooperate and interact with them in many fields such as business
and science research. The lesson by Mr Karplus is very interesting and it will
benefit me in the future.
The first lesson, Mr Karplus showed us a
collection of advertisements by HSBC, the world’s local bank’s advertisements.
The advertisement included the conflicts when people from different cultures
meet without understand each other. There was this commercial which shows how
the Germans felt cars are a source of pride and any minor damage to the car is
taken seriously. However, just across the border, the French felt totally the
opposite and did not care about their cars at all. This shows that even if
countries are right next to each other, their cultures and habits can be
totally different. There was another commercial which was an English having dinner
with the Chinese in a Chinese restaurant. The English wasn’t used to eating
Chinese food. However, the English believed it’s a slur on your host’s food if
you don’t clear your plate, whereas the Chinese feel your questioning their
generosity if you clear the plate. The commercials shows the different cultures
of different places and how people are often not used to the other cultures.
From these advertisements, I have learnt that it is important to understand the
local cultures of different places and how the cultures can make a difference
between the two places.
Then, Mr Karplus gave us a CQ Self-Assessment
to do online to see how much we know about the cultures. This exercise made
tests our Culture Intelligence to see how much we know about ourselves. From
this, I have learnt that I don’t have a lot of knowledge and I will focus on
this area more.
The second lesson we learnt the cultures of
America. Mr Karplus taught us the 15 core values of America. The values are
Individualism, Achievement and Success, Activity and Work, Efficiency and
Practically, Science and Technology, Progress, Material comfort,
Humanitarianism, Freedom, Democracy, Equality, Racism and Group Superiority.
The other values added on 1975 are Education, Religiosity and Romantic love.
For me, the significant aspect was on education. Previously, I thought the
Americans didn’t focus as much in education and only wants material comfort
like cars and phones, unlike the Asians whom have lots of work load since
primary school. However, later I realised the Americans focus on education more
than I thought. Most Americans will go as far in school as their abilities and
finances allow. Most people will go to college. My previous understand could be
due to the amount of work load received by the Americans. They have
significantly lesser homework as compared to the Asian countries like China and
even Singapore. Having read about it, now I know that even the workload is
lesser in America, but they also focus a lot on education. I have significantly
improved my understanding of America education.
In conclusion, just over the first two
lessons, I have realised that the cultures of different places can be so
different from others. I have learnt the 15 values of America and that they
also focus on education and want material comfort. Although the value about
romantic love contradicts the high divorce rate. I expect to learn more about
the cultures and lives of the West.
