(Inter)cultural Communication & Nonverbal Communication (general concept)

Each cultures have their own version of non-verbal communication, though facial expression, gestures, eye contact and body language. Growing up in Southeast Asia, we tend to communicate non-verbally like for example we gesture with our lips/chin to point at something, this is briefly explained by a English content content creator that lives in Malaysia known as Ryan Howlett on Tiktok (https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSQYWePhq/). 

In class, there was the question of Adaptation vs Authenticity dilemma, whether the primary responsibility to adapt to a new culture lies with the guest/foreigner rather than the host. My answer was at a 3 on a scale of 5 where 1 is the host's responsibility and 5 is the guest's responsibility. The reason my answer was at a 3 is because just because a person paid to visit another country does not mean that they have the right to do as they please in a foreign country, however, it also does not mean that the host should expect foreigner to be able to follow all the rules, considering there will be rules that foreigners will not know about. Back in 2024, there was a foreigner that posted a video of herself doing pull ups on the Torii gate in Sapporo, although one could argue that she did not know any better, but it is a well known rule even to foreigners to not do these action as it is considered disrespectful at religious places (SoraNews24, 2024).

Intercultural Communication (concept)

In Japan, communication is shaped by group harmony, Shudan Ishiki (group consciousness), and social hierarchy. In Brunei, communication is guided by Melayu Islam Beraja (MIB), which is Malay Islamic values, it emphasizes harmony, respect (hormat), modesty and maintaining peaceful relationships. These values influence how people speak, what they avoid saying, and how they show politeness regardless if they are Muslims are not. Verbal communication in Brunei is indirect but "warm", people avoid confrontation to maintain damai (peace). In Japan, verbal communication is highly indirect, they avoid saying "no" to preserve harmony. Non-verbal communication in Brunei tend to have friendly expressions with moderate physical distance and with modest hand gestures. In Japan, non-verbal communication is more restrained and hand gestures are minimal and facial expression are controlled to maintain social harmony. 

Video Insight

The video is full of humor and highly exaggerated. It shows how a foreigner adapts a little bit too much into a culture but at least they have put in the effort to learn about their rules and cultures.


References

SoraNews24. (2024, October 17). Foreign tourist angers locals for doing pull-ups on torii gate at shrine in Japan - Japan Today. Japantoday.com. https://japantoday.com/category/national/foreign-tourist-angers-locals-for-doing-pull-ups-on-torii-gate-at-shrine-in-japan

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