The lecture we had on culture was rather interesting to me. After all, the society we live in (Singapore) has ensured that all races and cultures live together harmoniously.
Having lived in a multi-cultural society since birth, have we lost our individual sense of identity in terms of our cultures?
Edward T. Hall’s theory claims that “culture is an invisible control mechanism operating in our thoughts which kicks in only when we are severely challenged.” In the case of Singapore, where everyone’s individual culture and identity are respected, perhaps this theory does not apply very well here. There isn’t such a big threat to our individual cultures.
Actually, our cultures are accepted so readily by others that I think we start to pick up traits from other cultures. I think that over the years, our individual cultures (Chinese, Malay, Indians, Caucasians etc) have blended together to form what I think is the Singaporean culture. Although we each have our distinct differences, we also share many common aspects of our culture. Trentholm’s theory of where culture is learned, shared, dynamic and multifaceted seems to apply better to the context of Singapore.
Singapore’s most famous cultural trait: ‘kiasu’ (fear of losing) and ‘kiasi’ (fear of everything/ dying).
We even had comic characters drawn up for those traits.
I’m sure everyone remembers Mr Kiasu 
.
