"Experiencing another's culture may open doors that were previously closed... but the choice to walk through those doors is entirely up to you"
This E and C week, we had the chance to go to Little India, Kampong Glam and Madrasah Aljunied. We were exposed to different cultures, traditions and religions that we were not commonly exposed to before the trip.
The most impactful lesson I experienced was the tour of the Masjid Sultan, the Sultan Mosque. Aside from the structural aspects of the mosque, we were taught the background and history of the mosque, and a brief introduction to Islam. We found out that the mosque is actually facing the direction of Mecca, their sacred city, and that the mosque is actually symmetrical. The guide then went on to explain that Islam also emphasises on balance, which allowed me to think of a similarity between Islam and another Chinese faith, Taoism. Taoism emphasises a lot on balance and symmetry as well. Even though the two religions or faiths originated very far from each other, they share some similarities in beliefs. Could symmetry and balance be the universal criteria of perfection? There was too much of a confidence for two religions that originated in regions poles apart to think of the same criteria. Then again, Taoism originated much earlier than Islam, and by that time the Silk Road has been established, hence ideas may have been passed on from either countries or regions via the Silk Road, and integrated into their religions. Another thing I learnt was that Islam was actually an Abrahamic faith, which is to say, they believe in Jesus. This actually took me by surprise as I had once thought that Islam was an entire type of religion by itself. However, it has some differences to Christianity, that it potrays Jesus as a messenger of God. The similarities between the two religions may have their reasons. It may be because that the two religions originated in the Middle East, and hence the ideas of a religion may have influenced the other. Also, I found out that our guide was actually Chinese (and actually spoke better Mandarin than we did), and he was Muslim as well. This broke the stereotype that Muslims are Malays.
Sometimes, I felt that when we were interviewing someone, we did not actually have enough time to jot down whatever they said, and in the haste of jotting down the notes, we may miss out on some points the person we interviewed may have said. Hence, I feel that the programme can be better improved by not actually letting us write on the booklet, but provide other platforms for us to effectively note down what the people we interviewed said.
I feel that the main objective of this programme is to expose us to the different cultures and traditions of different races and religions. Being in an SAP school, we study and spend most of our day in a relatively Chinese environment, and are continuously exposed to only Chinese cultures and elements. Hence, when it comes to other cultures, we may be akin to a frog in a well, not aware of the other cultures, not being culturally sensitive, which are important elements in order to have peace with people from other cultural or racial backgrounds. Only when different races and religions understand the cultures and traditions of other races and religions can we have racial harmony which is very important for a multi-racial country such as Singapore. The experiences throughout the entire week have allowed us to achieve these objectives. By going to places where a particular culture are abundant and by asking the people with a deep background on that culture, we can gain knowledge of that race firsthand, and get a taste of what living that culture out would be, thus better understanding the culture.
By remaining open to any information I receive, I am able to accept and understand the different cultures, as I would not be prone to any form of rejection, disgust or scorning, and can try to think further as to why this particular custom or tradition exists.
That brings me to the quote on the top of this post. I feel that this quote applies not only to the acceptance and understanding of other cultures, but in he learning of numerous other things. Numerous great opportunities that give you a chance in building up your knowledge may come our way. However, to take those opportunities very seriously and having an open mind to recieveing and processing information. No one can force us to learn, to absorb whatever information we are fed. The choice lies in us.
