Cultural Mailbox & Semester Unit Reflection (BA class) by Gary

BM4407

lipweichoo — 2025-08-07 12:25:27 UTC

It's been fun!

Xavier

2025-08-08 02:17:48 UTC

1) not really because i research on the cultural practices before travelling

2) tipping culture being “normalised” or “compulsory”

Fasting

2025-08-08 02:21:47 UTC

People still think that i can drink water when i fast

Tze Hung

2025-08-08 02:21:49 UTC

1) I was misunderstood during a BlackJack card game where people assumed that since I was Chinese, I knew how to play these kinds of games. However I didn't know as my family never played such games.

2) Not all Chinese are as smart as you think they are (not the typical "ZhongGuo" Chinese person)

2025-08-08 02:22:11 UTC

1) people assume i know how to play mahjong because im chinese

2) speaking efficiently is not the same as being rude

constance

2025-08-08 02:22:26 UTC

1) people assuming singapore is in china & are surprised we learn english

2) not much tipping culture in sg and rather just have the charge added on directly

ashley koh

2025-08-08 02:23:03 UTC

that singaporeans can only speak chinese

singlish - doesnt mean singaporeans are bad at english
singaporeans are very rich

Keane Ng

2025-08-08 02:23:08 UTC

There was once I went on a class outing in secondary school, I was wondering why my classmates were all trying to keep the meat out of my sight. At first I thought it was because they thought I would eat it too quickly. But it was because they knew I was a Buddhist and generally some Buddhist adopt a vegetarian diet, so they were trying to be considerate.
A culture I would like people to accept more is the food culture. As most people only think of "eating good food". I hope more people could study more about their favourite foods, their origins and how other countries may prepare it differently

Ethan

2025-08-08 02:24:59 UTC

1)people thing that I can’t drive but i’m a pretty good driver low key

2)I wish more people understood the value of communal eating in many Asian cultures. Sharing dishes at the table isn’t about being unsanitary or chaotic — it’s about bonding, trust, and togetherness. The act of passing food, serving others first, or using shared chopsticks reflects care and respect in a way that’s deeply meaningful.

kathy

2025-08-08 02:25:06 UTC

There was a time when a person from China scolded me loudly over a small misunderstanding. I felt shocked and misunderstood because, in Singapore, we are used to speaking calmly and politely. I later realised that in her culture, speaking loudly may not mean anger but urgency. I wish others would understand that in Singapore, tone matters, and respectful communication helps avoid cultural misinterpretations.

rui min

2025-08-08 02:25:46 UTC

1) when i communicate to people from China, they are surprised that i can speak chinese as they assumed singapore didn’t have chinese heritage or history. and they even tried to converse with me in english which was really uncalled for too as i could speak chinese perfectly fine. i think this “biasness” is very normal nowadays (as in happens frequently) but it still feels really weird when it actually happens to yourself. it just shows the lack of awareness and lack of open-mindedness people have for other people’s culture or country’s history which is disrespectful if it happens too often.

2) singapore’s multicultural society as a whole. people don’t understand how a country can be multicultural which baffles me, and more often than not their opinions are also more ignorant rather than being purely unsure of a country’s practices.

adhiti

2025-08-08 02:27:19 UTC

there was a time when i felt deeply misunderstood during a group project, we were assigned to brainstorm ideas and i hesitated to speak up right away as i was brought up in a way where listening to others and understanding their point of views first before voicing out was the way to go. but in that setting, my silence was interpreted as disengagement and a lack of confidence, i realised that what felt natural to me, was perceived differently in a culture that valued quick input.

Reflections Mailbox

2025-08-08 02:28:17 UTC

1) Everytime i go to the night markets bazaars to buy snacks like rally burger, I feel like I'm perceived differently from other customers just because if my race. I once tried to order a burger and the stallholders kept telling me it's sold out and sold me a cold burger he had kept for a long time. When i left, the other people who were in line who weren't Chinese that were ordering got their burgers cooked and ready on the go, which was really an telling experience.

2) I wish people understood other countries culture by reading up and prepping up beforehand, and to respect each countries' individual, regardless of your opinons on it. I sometimes see people from other countries act in certain manners that comes across as rude and the fact that they continued to do it just because they don't agree with it makes it feel wrong

Amelia

2025-08-08 02:35:59 UTC

I think the act of speaking politely and giving soft feedback when needed is important. I find that if not done carefully, it can result in feedback sounding abrasive and hurtful, even if that was not the intention.

I keep this in mind around people who are Japanese or the Chinese, who value politeness and respect.

Sem Reflections

2025-08-08 02:58:28 UTC

1) learning beyond our horizons

2) being able to get the kahoot quizzes correct

3) not understanding/ getting clwarclarification as to how to improve in my ICAs

4) Differentiated cultures can have varying amounts of context, which can be a good preview towards making approaches to different ppl from different cultures

5) thanks for the philosophical talks

sem reflections

2025-08-08 03:09:45 UTC

gcci is amazing
ive learnt alot from mr choo! hes an amazing lecturer and he goes through everything without fail. he always answers my doubts and clarifications and a great person to engage with!
i hope to achieve better cultural intelligence and an open mind from this module
i recall the kahoots and interactive lessons that helped to engage with one another and also discuss key concepts :)
i love gcci

Semester Reflections

2025-08-08 03:15:02 UTC

very enriching and rewarding, many new insights that have broadened my perspective on matters for eg. taking a different perspective when stuck or dealing with matters. i love GCCI i love GCCI i love IB 🫰🏻🫰🏻
reaping the fruits of my labour 🔥🔥
dont have any low points this module is by far my favourite in y2 it actually gets me thinking and engaged and want to learn more
erin meyer’s 8 cultural dimensions, hofstede’s six dimensions and dupraw and axner’s six fundamental patterns of cultural differences. also perspective taking and open mindedness is very important in this module
mr choo is very very supportive and kind!!!! very!!! i had so much fun discussing topics with him and listening to his different perspectives that have really improved my understanding on things. he also takes time out from his own rest time to provide advice on matters which is quite rare to see in lecturers nowadays, i really appreciate that !! :)) pls continue teaching us in sem 2 and y3 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

sem reflections

2025-08-08 03:29:39 UTC

gcci lesson teach me about differnt countries culture and make me do desearch before travelling to the country to respect their culture.
u are so nice cher ,u very calm and passionate in teaching us.
the subject gets boring sometimes but still enjoy ur lessons.

trisha

2025-08-14 13:19:04 UTC

Cultural Mailbox
- This one time when I ordered food and specifically told the food stall seller that I wanted extra chilli, but I ended up getting food that was less spicy than the normal spice level just because I'm Chinese. What made it worse was that when I went to get chilli from their self-serve condiment the uncle even asked me if "I could take the spice" (like hello if I already come take chilli myself what do u think). The whole situation made me pissed off and ruined my whole mood for eating -_-

- To stop being racist. Personally as someone that grew up closely with friends of different races(even having studied in a bilingual secondary school), and with my direct neighbours being a different race, I find racism very irksome. Like why do we need to define people based on racial stereotypes, and why do we need to make insensitive comments at all??? Personally, I don't think it's anywhere near difficult to just acknowledge and respect that different races have their own cultures and ways of doing things. I don't think there should be mockery for aspects that may have years of history and meaning behind them.

Semester Reflection
1. The module is very eye-opening and it allowed me to expand my horizons on different cultures around the world. I very much appreciate the thoughtfulness of including ways to deal with cultural differences as well as different perspectives on them as these can be applied not only in cultural settings but also in everyday communication. GCCI definitely did not disappoint and it lived up to the joy I felt when I found out I got IB as my specialisation:)))

2. My ICA1 and 2 results😼
If there's 1 thing I know that I definitely did this year, it would be putting in a lot more effort to properly do work for this module:)

3. None at all because this is my favourite module by far that tapped into what I love to learn about- people and their mannerisms and thoughts. I really enjoyed both the content and how class was conducted, negative thing is that its only very stressful before ICA results come out😮‍💨

4. Mainly the Erin Myers cultural map, Hofstede's 6 dimensions and the DuPraw and Axner's cultural differences, but also how contextual situations or progression may cause diversions from cultural norms!!!

5. Thanks a lot Mr Choo:) Regardless of how sassy u may be to me sometimes😀😀😀 thanks for always making class fun and interesting with your stories, kahoots and your insights on our class activities!!! Thanks for also always taking time after class to talk to us about our other queries and engaging in conversations about real-world situations! I'm grateful to being your class rep for 2semesters, and I hope maybe can extend for sem2 and year3 heheheheheheeheheh