Two of my sister’s friends visited Taiwan (Taipei) during last year June holidays. One afternoon, they boarded a train with many empty seats as it was non-peak hour. After sitting down, they noticed many local passengers were staring at them. Suddenly, one female passenger approached them and said in a loud voice, “Do not sit on the priority seats, they are for needy people.” Taken aback, they stood up immediately. Both of them did not dare to take another seat and stood in front of the priority seats. They noticed a sign was placed above the seats stating: “Please give up these seats to the needy like pregnant women, elderly and the disabled.”
Feeling unjustified, they complained to each other that there were still so many empty seats left. Moreover, the sign did not state explicitly that the priority seats are for the needy only, it merely state giving up seats to the needy.
This is an example of the hidden rules in a high context society. Although the rules allow non-needy people to occupy the seats until a needy person comes by, the unstated cultural norm only allows needy people to occupy them. The locals feel that it will be easier for the needy to locate a seat the moment they board the train if the priority seats are unoccupied. In Singapore, priority seats can be occupied until they are required by needy people.
This cultural misunderstanding is caused by difference in thinking due to different cultural background.
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Hi Chin Min,
ReplyDeleteAn interesting example of intercultural behavior, and I think this is a good point that we can learn from Taiwanese. While look at train here, the priority seats are always occupied, and in reality there are minority who are not willing to give up these seats to needy people. Well, there is still room for improvement in here. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers
Kent
Hello Chin Min
ReplyDeleteYour post is very apt to our local society and maybe we should have known better before embarrassing ourselves in a foreign land.
I agree with Kent that the current situation can be improved with regards to people with special needs but I supposed with a small country like ours and a bursting population it may look ridiculous if during peak hours train carriages are already packed yet people are just staring at the empty seat before them.
However since this is on intercultural behaviour then I believed it is essential that such unspoken rule can only be learnt from first hand "experience" and keep in mind not to make the same mistake again.
Thank you for sharing, I'll remember this rule the next time I visit Taiwan.
Hi Chin Min!
ReplyDeleteI learnt something new after reading your post. I never knew another country would practice that rule strictly because back here in Singapore, we often dismiss the fact that the seat is a priority seat and only give it up when we see someone who needs it more than we do (even though sometimes there are some who do not give up those seats to the needy at all).
I guess it must have been a really embarassing moment for your sister's friends. Hence, I feel that it is really important to learn about a country's culture (especially the do's and dont's) before visiting it to avoid us from being in an awkward situation. Your post depicts a very good example as to why we should do that. (:
Hi Chin Min,
ReplyDeleteYour post is very practical and true! I believe the incident was some sort of a cultural shock for your sister's friends.
The Taiwanese's saying makes perfect sense, yet that does not deem us to be wrong either. Indeed, we can only view the incident as a cultural misunderstanding. That only makes the learning of cultural behaviors more important. =)
Regards,
May Chen, Crystal.
Thank you all for commenting.
ReplyDeleteIndeed the Taiwanese local practise this rule quite strictly even during peak hours. They will stand and stare at empty seats even though the train is very packed.
Hi Chin Min,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing that. I had no idea there was such a "rule" in Taiwan. I guess you learn something new everyday. I shall be more cautious if I get to go there in the future.
Perhaps your sister's friends should have felt something amiss when no one was sitting on the seats despite the packed train. Still, there are not entirely at fault as they were unfamiliar with the culture. A great example of a cultural misunderstanding in a foreign land, at least they got to learn from their mistakes.
Soo Kun.
Hi Chin Min,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing on this 'rule' in Taiwan. When I was reading your post I felt weird, because in local context there's also such signs to notify the commuters to offer the seat to needy people. I suppose there is no needy people when your sister's friends were in the train right? Different countries certainty have different sets of culture.