Working with people of different nationalities and races
By scheng1
@scheng1 (24649)
Singapore
April 24, 2016 8:51am CST
I count myself fortunate to live in Singapore.
It is a cosmopolitan country and we have many talented people from all over the world coming here to work.
As a result, I have a chance to work with people from many different countries and races.
I have worked with Americans, Germans, Chinese (from China), Malaysians, Thais, Indians (both South and North India), Sri Lankans, South Africans, Australians, Scots, Japanese, English, Myanmese (formerly known as Burmese), Bangladeshi, Filipinos, and Taiwanese.
At first it took a lot of getting used to.
When a team meets in the meeting room, and starts to quarrel over something, you hardly can follow the heated argument.
Even though all of them speak in English, the slangs are entirely different. Imagine a Scot and a Chinese (from China) quarreling over a new computer system implementation project.
It is bad enough when they start to talk in computer language, and far worse when they start to argue in their thick slang.
Overall, it makes for an interesting work experience.
15 people like this
16 responses
@rina110383 (24492)
•
24 Apr 16
When I was still with the Audit Firm, I handled Immigration and International Taxation. All of my clients were of different nationalities. Most of them were Americans, British, Australians, Indians, Turkish, Japanese, Italians, Malaysians, and Chinese.
I never handled a Filipino or Half-Filipino client, which is good because I was exposed to cultures of different nationalities. That in itself made my work with the Firm an enjoyable one.
Every time there is a hearing, client meeting, or conference call, I made it a point to be always early. They were aware of the so-called "Filipino Time." I didn't want to disappoint my clients then.
3 people like this
@annierose (21583)
• Philippines
25 Apr 16
I hope that term "Filipino Time" will someday vanished. But it is like it is already an immortal term in the Philippine culture.
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (160708)
• United States
24 Apr 16
What an enriching and challenging experience to work with all of those various people.
3 people like this
@annierose (21583)
• Philippines
24 Apr 16
It is true and there is no need to travel to learn different cultures. I find it interesting to know something about different countries. As of now that I cannot travel whenever I want to,I just satisfy myself to read about them.
1 person likes this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
25 Apr 16
@GardenGerty It is indeed very challenging.
Sometimes I find it hard to understand what they are saying, even though they speak English.
@annierose (21583)
• Philippines
24 Apr 16
I would love to be given an opportunity just like yours. You are indeed very lucky for that kind of job where you can interact on different nationalities. It is challenging I think because each has its own beliefs too. I think patience is a must too in that kind of job and good interpersonal skills as well.
2 people like this
@annierose (21583)
• Philippines
25 Apr 16
@scheng1 Wow! They look strict. I think Koreans do same too. Maybe it is another reason their country is very much developed.
1 person likes this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
25 Apr 16
@annierose Yes, Japanese are known for their work ethics.
In some Japanese companies, everyone has to wear uniform!
So you may be speaking to the CFO without knowing that he is the CFO.
1 person likes this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
25 Apr 16
Sometimes when we want to go for the interview, we have to think seriously about the work culture.
if you want to have work-life balance, you have to work for German companies, because the bosses come on the dot, leave on the dot, and expect you to get all the work done within the office hour.
If you want a lot of overtime, you have to seek out Japanese companies.
The culture is that you do not leave before your boss, and Japanese bosses are known to work very long hours.
1 person likes this
@quantum2020 (12041)
• Ciudad De Mexico, Mexico
24 Apr 16
I imagine the conversations with people of different nationalities. It must be hard to get to an understanding! It also must be good to know about different cultures.
2 people like this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
25 Apr 16
Yes, for some cultures, they like to do a lot of small talks before they come to the subject matter.
For some other culture, the first sentence is work related.
For us Singaporeans, sometimes when we are busy at work, we just open our mouths to say, "Alan, how?" and poor Alan is supposed to know what we are asking about.
1 person likes this
@quantum2020 (12041)
• Ciudad De Mexico, Mexico
25 Apr 16
@scheng1 Like a promt! I imagine people from other cultures trying to express themselves in another country. Eager to let other people know that they are happy to be where they are.
1 person likes this
@annierose (21583)
• Philippines
24 Apr 16
That's what makes it very interesting.
2 people like this
@quantum2020 (12041)
• Ciudad De Mexico, Mexico
24 Apr 16
It is like you almost never get bored because you are always discovering interesting cultural features.
2 people like this
@mylovelenix (66)
• Cancun, Mexico
24 Apr 16
Very interesting. I find it fascinating learning from other cultures I feel lucky that I used to work at the airport because I made new friends from all over the world. Conversations were always interesting with the tourists.
2 people like this
@annierose (21583)
• Philippines
24 Apr 16
The airport is my favorite place. It is like the rainbow bridge that I had been watching from fairy tale movies. From my country to a foreign land.
2 people like this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
24 Apr 16
Yes, that is true.
I think meeting people from different nationalities as tourists is much better than meeting them as colleagues, especially when they are your bosses.
A Japanese boss will expect you to come earlier than him, and stay back later than him, and everyone knows Japaneses are known as workaholic.
A German expects you to come on time, leave on time, and finish all your work.
If you have to stay late, that means you are not efficient.
1 person likes this
@mylovelenix (66)
• Cancun, Mexico
24 Apr 16
@scheng1 You are right maybe that's why enjoyed my job so much. As tourist people tent to be nicer and always happier to interact with you and even ask you questions about your own culture.
1 person likes this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
25 Apr 16
It sure leads to a lot of misunderstanding, and the work culture depends on what boss is in charge.
If the company (especially factory) is a Japanese owned company with mainly Japanese bosses around, you can expect to start early, and to do 15 minutes exercise every morning before you start work.
That is the Japanese culture.
You are not expected to go home on time too.
Japanese bosses expect to see people working longer hours than them.
@shaggin (72144)
• United States
1 May 16
That is so near you get to be around people from all over the world at work. Kind of like how at mylot we can learn so much about different cultures because of all those here from so many different countries. Listening to people arguing with such strong accents must be funny but very hard to understand whar they are saying. I have a very hard time understanding people who have a strong accent. I have bad hearing which could be part of the problem.
1 person likes this
@cherriefic (10399)
• Philippines
24 Apr 16
Working with different races can really be interesting.
2 people like this
@annierose (21583)
• Philippines
24 Apr 16
True. And it is also very challenging too since each has different personalities.
1 person likes this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
24 Apr 16
Yes, it is interesting, but also very annoying!
Filipinos and Indians are terrible at punctuality and deadlines. If you tell them to meet you at 2 pm sharp, chances are they will come late.,
Germans are very precise, and 2 pm means 2 pm sharp, not a minute late.
@annierose (21583)
• Philippines
24 Apr 16
@scheng1 We really cannot generalize people on certain country. I used to think that Chinese are people armed always with many superstitious beliefs but I found out I was wrong when my Chinese friend stayed with us for 2 months.
1 person likes this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
25 Apr 16
@annierose Muslims in general are conservative (at least in appearance), especially from places like Middle East and Pakistan where the extreme groups do not allow girls to get educated, and force them to marry young.
1 person likes this
@vickyrose (2235)
• Cooma, Australia
25 Apr 16
I enjoy visiting Singapore, it is a melting pot of cultures.
1 person likes this
