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FOR 22-year-old Chinese National Tang Yi, adjusting to life to
Singapore involved a few culture shocks that resulted in sometimes
unpleasant experiences.
One such cultural misunderstanding arose from queueing to draw
money from the ATM.
Recalling his bad encounter, Tang Yi, who has been working in
Singapore for two years now, told RazorTV: 'In China, we are so
used to standing very close to one another when queueing up for the
ATM. Usually, even if you bump into someone, you just apologise and
the person will smile and say it is okay.'
'But that time, there was an auntie in front of me, maybe
because I was in a rush...I took a step forward and bumped into
her. I immediately said 'oh so sorry, so sorry!', but she still
gave me a nasty stare.'
It took a while for Tang Yi to understand that queueing too
close to another person, especially at an ATM, was considered rude
behaviour by Singaporeans. On hindsight, Tang Yi told RazorTV, he
wished someone had taken the time to stop and explain why he should
not have stood so close.
To hear what Tang Yi had to say, and to find out what
Singaporeans think of the issue, catch RazorTV's miniseries
'Different Cultures, One Home'