Saturday, August 29, 2009
Complimentary or Comments of Mere Neutrality?
Compliments vary across cultures. Given the Indonesian example whereby one comments "You must've been tired from all the shopping" is deemed as a form of compliment in the Indo culture, but such a statement wouldn't even cross our mind as complimentary in our own culture. The example demonstrated in class left me puzzled initially and I began to ponder as to why the comment could come across as a compliment in the Indo context. And finally, it just occured to me that given the fact that only a small percentage of the Indonesian population is well-to-do, it must be a privilege for its people to have the purchasing power to shop. Likewise, the comment "You bought a new sewing machine" is viewed as a compliment in the Indonesian culture as well since apparently a sewing machine would be considered as a luxury good. Clearly, comments like these would not be thought of as complimentary in our own effluent Singaporean culture given our higher living standards and economic wealth.
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Hi Christine,
ReplyDeleteYup, totally agree with you that what constitutes as a compliment varies across different cultures. I wouldn't have known that such a statement would be considered if I were to pick. I suppose the language and the way it is used also reveals a lot about the culture of a group of people. (:
-Huimin
Yes! I agree with what you mentioned in your post. What constitutes a compliment in one country could very well have adverse effects in another. One will really never know. This reminds me of the HSBC advertisement series where they portray the meaning that values play a very different role in each and every individual. In Singapore, how often is it that one hear compliments on a sewing machine? Or maybe even a table? If one were to buy a new car or a new High Definition Television set, he/she would certainly be enjoying the attention that their friends are giving to their new "toys".
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