#4: Intercultural Behaviour
My best friend, Iza, is currently on an exchange programme in a university in Lulea, Sweden. Being the only Malay there, she constantly finds herself caught in situations where she has to make sacrifices and compromises due to cultural differences.
A couple of weeks ago, while chatting with Iza on MSN, she related to me an incident that had occurred at a welcome party for exchange students hosted by the Student Union of the Lulea University of Technology. At the party, everyone was given a welcome drink, which was either a can of beer, or a cup of punch mixed with alcohol, to which Iza politely declined. For a Muslim, drinking any form of alcoholic substance is forbidden. However, for the Swedish, as well as for the most of the exchange students there (which consists mainly of Europeans and Americans), drinking is part of their culture. It is even more so in Lulea where the temperature is about -20 degrees Celsius.
The people at the party found Iza’s refusal to drink and eat (Swedish meatballs were served, and these meatballs contained pork, which Muslims are also not allowed to consume) rather odd. Some of the hosts were even offended and confronted Iza about it. After explaining to them that it is against her religion to consume alcohol and pork, some were still insistent that she ‘drink up’, saying “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”. This made her frustrated, but she kept it to herself, not wanting to create tension at the party. In the end, she just quietly left the party and went back to her hostel.
As Iza told me her story, I felt outraged at the lack of consideration of the hosts. However, after thinking long and hard about it, I realized that most of the Swedish are not even aware of the existence of ‘Malays” as a race and culture, and also do not fully understand the religion of Islam. They probably found it really strange for someone to avoid even a single drop of alcohol, especially in such a weather condition. They probably had Iza’s best interests at heart, wanting her to drink and enjoy herself. They did not realize that Iza would have enjoyed herself even more had they been aware of the cultural differences and hence, had accommodated to her needs.
A couple of weeks ago, while chatting with Iza on MSN, she related to me an incident that had occurred at a welcome party for exchange students hosted by the Student Union of the Lulea University of Technology. At the party, everyone was given a welcome drink, which was either a can of beer, or a cup of punch mixed with alcohol, to which Iza politely declined. For a Muslim, drinking any form of alcoholic substance is forbidden. However, for the Swedish, as well as for the most of the exchange students there (which consists mainly of Europeans and Americans), drinking is part of their culture. It is even more so in Lulea where the temperature is about -20 degrees Celsius.
The people at the party found Iza’s refusal to drink and eat (Swedish meatballs were served, and these meatballs contained pork, which Muslims are also not allowed to consume) rather odd. Some of the hosts were even offended and confronted Iza about it. After explaining to them that it is against her religion to consume alcohol and pork, some were still insistent that she ‘drink up’, saying “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”. This made her frustrated, but she kept it to herself, not wanting to create tension at the party. In the end, she just quietly left the party and went back to her hostel.
As Iza told me her story, I felt outraged at the lack of consideration of the hosts. However, after thinking long and hard about it, I realized that most of the Swedish are not even aware of the existence of ‘Malays” as a race and culture, and also do not fully understand the religion of Islam. They probably found it really strange for someone to avoid even a single drop of alcohol, especially in such a weather condition. They probably had Iza’s best interests at heart, wanting her to drink and enjoy herself. They did not realize that Iza would have enjoyed herself even more had they been aware of the cultural differences and hence, had accommodated to her needs.
posted by Faidah @ 5:00 PM
1 Comments:
At March 4, 2009 at 3:05 PM ,
abz said...
Hi Faidah!
Being a Muslim myself, I do have my fair share of such experiences, but fortunately, Singapore's multi-racial and multi-religion stance has helped make this integration smoother and less conflicted. For example, I remembered during my first secondary school class chalet, there was a long discussion pertaining the provision of food and drinks. Thankfully, it was resolved amicably.
I suppose I understand the Swedish people's frustrations and perplexity as from my understanding, the Swedish nation is hardly multi-racial and multi-cultural, and instead, they have a single national identity, very much like the Japanese for example. So it is very rare that they meet a person with a different culture and religious beliefs, and they might not know how to react. Then again, being in a tertiary institution of higher learning like a University, students are expected to at least have a broader mindset and cultural tact. I suppose that's what the exchange student programme is for, to help students experience different cultures. For better or worse, it is still a valuable learning experience.
That's my 2 cents worth.
Regards,
Abdullah
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