I believe most of us have heard of or even played the game where we would pinch our friend's arm when we see a Indian man wearing a turban, obliging our friend to tell us what the color of the turban is before we stop pinching them. This little "game" may seem quite interesting and fun to some of us but as Chinese or any other races, we do not realized that this "game", passed on from few generations, may be offensive to the Indians.
So one day, this friend of mine, YC, was walking to the train station with his friends when he spotted an Indian man wearing a turban. Being mischievous, he immediately pinched one of his friend's arm and ask "what colour, tell me, quick!" Unfortunately, after his friend answered him, the Indian man walked towards YC and confronted him. "What game are you guys playing?! Don't think I don't know what are you all doing! Don't you know that this is very offensive to our religion? Why are you taking the colour of our turban as a joke?" the man said angrily. He was really offended by it. Stunned, my friend was shocked and apologized to the man. To think that this "game" have been passed down from so many generations; even the Indians themselves know about it. YC had never expected the Indians to know about it and even confronted him.
2 questions:
If you were YC, apart from apologizing, what would you have done when the man confronted you?
Would you still continuing playing this "game" when you already know that it is offensive to them?
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ReplyDeleteHi Hui Qi, I saw your blog post, I hope you don't mind. Hehe! ( I was one of Brad's former student that was worst!)
ReplyDeleteThis was one of the briefest interpersonal accounts I'd ever seen. The game itself was as much new, the few characters understandably offending, the receiving Indian secretly comical that I'd laughed with guilt. Overall, a story that had high promise in Brad's eyes, I hope, because it had contained the thick interpersonal plot and its complications.
I'd only like to edit some of your grammar faults so that you achieve higher standing.
Take a look at these mistakes:
"If you were YC, apart from apologizing, what would..........">>>If you were YC, what would you have done, apart from apologizing, when the man confronted you. (Your subject 'you' needs to be closest to the modifier 'If', so that it doesn't dangle)
Would you still continuing playing this "game" when you already know that it is offensive to them?>>>Would you still continue playing this game when you already know it offends them. ( The main error is your use of 'that', a pronoun, is misplaced because it doesn't modify anything at all.)
There are a couple other errors that I hope you can spot out by yourself.
Hi huiqi, I think it can be clearly seen that this is an intercultural conflict. This can be resolved by having the right attitude by firstly developing a sense of cultural awareness. If I was YC, apart from apologizing, I would listen genuinely to what he has got to say because this will enable us to understand from his point of view. The main take away is for YC to realise that being sensitive to intercultural issues is IMPORTANT.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Hui Qi, for making this post.
ReplyDeleteYou mention a game I am not familiar with, one that has clear potential for creating bad feelings. Reading your post reminded me of verbal games I would hear as a child that were also aimed in a condescending fashion at other cultural groups.
You describe the incident clearly and concisely. Of the questions you pose, the second seems the most suitable for providing a platform for intercultural discussion. Do you know why?
Hi Hui Qi, If I am YC apart from apologizing, when the man confronted me I would ask him how the "game" offended him. For me I am really curious, how guessing the turban colour offended their religion. Like Hui Qi mention the "game" has been passed on for few generations, and nobody has stop this "game".
ReplyDeleteIf this "game" offended the man's religion, I would not play the game and I would persuade my friends not to play the game. In Singapore we need to be sensitive to different cultures, as we are living in multiracial and multicultural society.
Hello Hui Qi!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to realise how known this "game" actually is. For me, I first heard of it a couple of years ago from my friend, and to be really honest, it sounded quite amusing to me initially. Of course, I must say, I would definitely not think of it as being amusing now. I think in many situations in our everyday lives, we tend to take people's feelings for granted and at times, create joy and happiness at the expense of other people's feelings. This incident clearly depicts such a situation.
I would actually think that this game is not very severe, if the other party is unaware of it (not saying that it is acceptable). I have friends, who on several occassions, actually openly make jokes out of the people wearing turban, in front of them, because they felt that they are alright with it given their friendship. But honestly, are they really alright with it just because they are smiling?
I think in today's society, it is increasingly importance to pay attention to one's feelings, including people around you. Maybe to learn to pay attention to such details, is the first step to a truly multi-racial and multi-cultural society!
Hi Hui Qi
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting post and the account was really funny!
Though I would have to agree with Mark that there were a number of grammatical mistakes in your blog post.
For one, when quoting those who were involved in the incident, even though the tone is meant to be informal, it is important to note that you should be using proper English.
For example, 'Don't think I don't know what you all are doing?' could have been written this way instead:
'Don't think that I don't know what this game is about?'
I have to work on my grammatical structures too. My post (and even my suggestion) may not be completely correct.
Another point to note, I think you should address the 'Indian man' as a Sikh instead. :p