If I were a Swede…
Food for Thought : If you were a Swede living in China and looking at the countries around you, how would you communicate across national, cultural, linguistic and technological boundaries?
Looking at this question from a personal perspective, as a ‘partial-foreigner’ myself in Singapore (I came over in primary 2), I understand the pain that one has to deal with when it comes to a new environment. To put it simply, let’s break them down into 3 main challenges.
Speak thy language
Interestingly, the very first obstacle that comes to everyone’s minds is probably the language factor – which I won’t deny that it’s going to be a huge issue if you can’t even utilize the language that the country you’re residing is using. However, I believe that language can be easily picked up and with the help of technology and tools such as NJStar CJK Viewer and Firefox plugins that makes things easier.
Power of Weak Ties
We’re lucky that Singapore is a country that supports multiculturalism. China is known for its strong nationalism which unified the people and its culture. It is important to understand one’s culture, be it via blogs that fellow foreigners living in China share or researching via travelling sites from a tourist’s point of view or even finding fellow Swedes in China via social networking sites. Do your homework ! At the same time, it is important to keep an open mind to other’s opinions as it may differ from your own experience. Embrace and respect one’s culture and you’ll learn that it is not too difficult to be welcomed into the community.
The Great Firewall
As much as censorship is concerned in China, I won’t say that China is not open up to technological advancement but perhaps in their own ways. Looking at the list of ’60 Best Blogs on China in English, it may seem like Google-China case is not going to affect the social media scene as much as the outsiders would assume. Who are we (or Google) to claim that China is wrong ? Instead, I think we should start exploring their internal networks and reach out to the various target audience from there. It’s all about connecting with the right people.
From a business pespective, in several decades to come, China or just in general – Asia will emerge as the primary growth market for the world. Looking at this economic reality, how do one or a company position himself/itself better in Asia? I believe that there’s no tailored solution or template to follow as how Professor Dan Ryun Chang puts it and having a Pan-Asian Strategy might hurt your business in the long run.
To sum it up, it is about an open mind, basic respect and mutual understanding.
Find out more about communicating across Asia, click here !
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Note : If you’re wondering why the sudden post after annoucing a ‘Time Out’, this is an assignment for my Digital Media Across Asia Module. Thank You !
Time Out
Been really busy in school.
Totally killed the mood and lack of time to blog.
Be Back Soon.
Life,in general.
From How I Met Your Mother (awesomest show ever)
Lily : Architecture is killing you, Ted. And it’s killing us to watch it killing you. You like that goat with the wash cloth. You want it so bad, and every time the world tried to take it away from you, you keep grabbing it. You know, it’s just the wash cloth. Why you even want it?
Ted : Because I have to be an Architect!! That’s.. that’s the plan..
Lily : Screw the plan! I planned to be a famous artist.. Marshal planned to be an environmental lawyer.. Robin planned to be a TV reporter..
Robin : I am TV reporter.. I’m on every morning , on 4 AM..
Lily : Ow, is that still on? Good for you… Barney planned to be a violinist.. You can’t design life like a building. It doesn’t work that way.. You have to live it and it will designed it self.
Ted : So.. I should just do nothing?
Lily : No… Listen what the world telling you to do… and take the leap..
I guess no one can predict how our lives would turn out to be though I believe we can decide what we want to be. Things won’t always run as how you’ve planned. We can hang on to our dreams or just let it go. If it’s meant for us, there’s always a way that will lead us to there. Else, just carry on with life and take the leap.
Afterall, the world is constantly changing and you won’t know what will knock on your door next.
