Speaking of intercultural behaviour, allow me to share an interesting observation that I came across last month. I was walking along orchard road and I saw something that stopped me on my tracks. Two Caucasian women were engaging in a deep conversation and both their children around 2-3 years old were on a leash. I was shocked yet amused at the same time because it was my first time to observing something like this in Singapore. Apparently, I was not the only one as passerby were giving stares and muttering among themselves after the sight they have just witnessed. The two mothers were completely oblivious of the reaction they are getting and most importantly what their children are doing.
One of the toddlers was rolling around on the ground and crawling about, while the other tugging the leash and trying to run away. His mother simply tugged the leash back and the child would fall bottoms to the ground. I started to question whether what the parents did was right. To me, that was something totally unacceptable in the culture I was brought up in. I feel that it’s not the right way to teach the kids. That was when I found this whole scene a little infuriating. Is this a sign of cultural decay? I feel that the parents are no longer concerned with the well-being of their children and are taking an easy way out to discipline them. At the same time, the children are being treated like dogs.
I shared this story with my friends and they revealed that they have seen similar scenarios themselves involving Caucasian mothers and their children. Upon finding out more, I realize that this situation is actually more common in the Caucasian countries and the leash is called child safety tethers. It ensures that the children have the freedom to do what they want within distance limit and also keeps them close to their parents. Thus Caucasian parents are willing to adopt this practice with the mindset that it is safer for their child and more convenience for themselves.
In these situations, I feel that it is important for us to understand the cultural differences of people from other places before being judgmental towards what they do. This will greatly help to minimize misunderstanding between differences in mindsets between cultures.
