Evaluating Intercultural Behaviour

Every first and fifteenth day of the month on the lunar calendar, it is customary for my family to burn joss-sticks and incense paper as offerings to my ancestors. This is a tradition of my religion, Taoism. Personally, I am not a staunch Taoist. I do not know much of the “Way of Tao” and I have just discovered that I know only 6 of the 38 major festivals in Taoism, according to this website. As far as I am concerned, I do exactly what my parents tell me to.

I do not like the smell that joss-sticks emanate; somehow the gases emitted from smoldering joss-sticks sting my eyes. Moreover, I hate the fact that some irresponsible people simply burn incense paper and offerings on the pavement, damaging public property. The government has designated metallic containers at the void decks for people to burn incense paper but most of those who refuse to burn offerings in a common container argue that “their ancestors will not be able to receive the offerings”. I do not question their beliefs but my take is that any orthodox religion teaches people to be non-destructive and to be socially responsible.

For my family, we burn incense paper in a metal tin (25cm by 25cm by 35cm) along the corridor. Having lived in the same HDB unit for more than 20 years, we have never received any complaints from our neighbours with regards to burning offerings along the corridor until a year ago.

One particular morning, my neighbour, a middle-aged lady, decided to confront my father. While the latter was offering joss-sticks, she approached him, interrupted the ritual and commented that the smoke has been making her home very sooty and that it is illegal to burn incense paper along the corridor. My father is a calm person, one who is not easily intimidated by threats. He ignored her remarks temporarily, completed the ritual, then replied coldly, “Go HDB to make a complaint,” and he proceeded to burn the offerings.

My father insisted on ignoring the threat, while my mother decided that, in future, she will bring the metal tin to the void deck when burning offerings. Apparently, my neighbour did not make the complaint, as we have yet to receive any warning letters from the HDB. If I were in my neighbour’s shoes, considering my dislike for smoke, soot and vapours from joss-sticks, I would definitely lodge a complaint.

Upon closer examination, I find that this conflict is not purely intercultural. If it is, all my former neighbours who are not Taoists should have complained. However, this is the first time in twenty years that a neighbour has ever complained. So it would probably suggest that my family did not have a good relationship with my current neighbour and this is merely an outlet for them to vent their frustration. Nonetheless, there exists a conflict of interest which is intercultural, as by burning incense paper along the corridor at our convenience, we have been indirectly dirtying the neighbouring apartments.

Personal Statement - Defying the Odds (edited)

Possessing an adventurous spirit and love for the outdoors, I joined the Outdoor Activities Club (OAC) in National Junior College. Having 4 years of experience as a Quartermaster in the scouts’ troop of my secondary school, I was appointed as the Quartermaster in OAC to be in charge of the logistics and camp craft training.

As the school was undergoing a restructuring process, it was announced that clubs and societies that did not win in competitions would be closed down and OAC was one of them. I was disappointed but I understood the school’s rationale. It became apparent that there was only one solution: Join and win some competitions. Odds were against us, as our seniors in OAC had never taken part in any competitions. Moreover, most of the people within the executive committee saw little hope and thought that any effort would be futile.

However, I believed in defying the odds and within the short span of 2 years, I participated in several competitions organized by the local universities and achieved results that were previously unheard of in OAC. For instance, In 2002, I led a team of three and won the second prize in the Adventure Jamboree organized by Nanyang Technological University (NTU). In 2003, I led another team and won the first prize in the Urban Escape Ubin Challenge organized by Singapore Management University (SMU). Not only did these achievements prevent the closure of a club, they encouraged future members of the club to actively participate in more of such competitions.

When I received an invitation to the Speech Day in 2004 for an award, in appreciation of my contributions to the club, little did I know that this award is typically given to either the president or the vice-president of the club. I found out later that the teacher-in-charge evaluated my contributions and decided to make an exception to give the award to me despite the fact that I am not the president of the club. This meant a lot to me as it proved that so long as I devote wholeheartedly to a cause, I will be able to defy the odds, achieve the goal and eventually be recognized for it. I strongly believe that with this positive attitude, I will certainly be an asset to your organization.

<<< edited on 16/04/09 3:50pm >>>