When I moved from the UK to Singapore in 2012, I found a lot of things new and peculiar. And yes, also difficult. OK, Singapore partly lives up to its reputation as 'Asia 101' for Westerners. Because most systems are in English, and many things work in a Western-logical way. But if you bother to scratch beneath this convenient surface, it's Asia. This shouldn't be a surprise, right? It looks Western / international, but the value systems underlying the place are not Western. They're Chinese (or I guess Chinese diaspora). With a few other influences - including Malay, Indian - thrown in. And a few aspects which are - as other Chinese diaspora generations in the region will testify to - just uniquely Singaporean.
Also, working a regional job has allowed me to interact a bit with others around APAC, and view their takes on people, business, politics too.
Attitudes and assumptions - socially perhaps more than in business for me, anyway - are different from what I was used to in the UK. Some of these differences are actually very fundamental (even for a half-Asian person!) but you don't necessarily register this until a bit of time in the new place. I think this is partly because SE and E Asian cultures are relatively a little reserved about expressing opinion; so you need to take the time to stop and quietly observe and take in what others are doing / prefer doing. And also because it is very easy to just make an assumption - a fundamental understanding, even - that one's own 'right and wrong' is correct. This is not entirely a Western-arrogance thing. It exists, I suspect, for most people on this planet! We think and feel that our values are right, because we've known them all our lives, and because a majority of people around us - in our own countries, societies, cultures - think similarly.
But living overseas has highlighted this for me: our value systems might be right for us. Or they might be partially right / pretty good. But there are actually a whole bunch of really quite radically different value systems out there! And not everything in our own setups IS necessarily the right or best way.
So my viewpoints have changed over six+ years in SE Asia. There are European values which I still think are enduringly sound. But others which I really do question now - because it's such a drastically different (while also functional) story in Asia.
I guess on one level this could be viewed as a bit of a mindf***. Having one's lifelong foundations rocked about like this. And living overseas has most certainly had its alienating challenges at times! But actually I feel very grateful for this new group of perspectives.
So, I'm now back in London for a few months. And it feels rather strange! I've been enjoying it. But (or perhaps because) I feel like a tourist visiting my own city. A lot is familiar and comfortable - because I've lived in London for most of my adult life. But I'm currently still outside, looking-in, with some interest and/or bemusement!
Coming up in this series are some things - from the small and ridiculous, to the larger and more serious - which I have noted as stand-out and different during this stay.
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| The New Yorker cartoon |
*An expat who doesn't remain ghetto-ised with other expats from their own nation (there are a lot of these!) but tries to make local friends, understand the operations, language and culture of the new place.
