Navigating the Complex River of Inter-Cultural Interactions

This incident was actually a series of minor events that happened during my NS. Allow me to describe myself first. I am a Chinese Muslim and speak Malay. I do not speak Mandarin or any of the Other Chinese dialects.

The incident that I remember first was one of the first few times when my fellow clerks and I were going for lunch together. We walked together to the canteen as usual. However, when we reached the canteen, they all went to the Malay food stall instead of their usual Chinese food stall. I was perplexed and asked them about it. They told me that they didn’t want to eat pork in front of me, as they thought it was insulting to Muslims. At that point, I was literally too shocked to react. Part of me was touched that they cared, but at the same time, part of me was vastly embarrassed. I hurriedly told them that while I was Muslim and appreciated that they considered my religion before choosing their food, they did not have to do that at all. I told them that I’d lived in Singapore for long enough that seeing people eating non-Halal food was so insignificant that I never even thought about it.

This happened again when my closest colleague reached his ORD. His ORD date was a mere single month after mine, and so he organized a celebratory Dim Sum lunch in Vivocity. Again, this issue cropped up. I was apologized to repeatedly by Jaysern (that closest friend of mine), and again there was an awkward atmosphere. I told him that he had nothing to worry about, and I would simply Not eat those Dim Sum with any pork or pork byproducts in them.

Now, this is the “best case” scenario for Intercultural misunderstandings, as nobody was outright offended, and I realize how lucky that was. I realize that they could simply have not considered my religion and just gone somewhere where pork is in abundance. Truthfully, that would have been fine and actually have been better than the ensuing awkwardness. It could have been worse if I had been very sensitive.

All in all I’m grateful that it was “resolved” so easily, but I’ve since explained my beliefs and feelings, and no such things have happened again.  I must ask myself though, how could this have been handled better? What might have happened if I Were more sensitive, and how could that scenario have been resolved?