Culture Shock

What is Culture Shock?

Red flags to improve cultural awareness

Every book stores throughout the world would have the ‘culture shock’ series in its travel section. Those books intended to give us insights into culture of certain country or city; normally would carry titles like ‘Culture Shock in …..’ or ‘Living and Working in ……’.

My friend, Lynn Witham, an intercultural business consultant and trainer based in San Francisco wrote ‘Living and Working in Kuala Lumpur’ (2001) and said in her introduction that .. This book is designed to assist you in finding your way and feeling at home in this city of contrast. Whether you are a visitor or a resident, it can serve as an orientation prior to your arrival and as reference during your stay ….. I had the opportunity to read Lynn’s manuscript and travelled with her to some parts of the country while she was writing the book and also shared my views and experiences as a past director of an international / intercultural students exchange programme (AFS) in Malaysia. You can buy Lynn’s book online (Amazon). She has an earlier book, Malaysia – 'A Foreigner’s Guide' prior to 'Living & Working in Kuala Lumpur'.

Well, in addition to having assisted Lynn, worked as a past director of AFS and having had the exposure as a traveller to more than 20 countries, I wish to also share some tips, and hope that they will help, as you arrive in a new place: to identify new and unfamiliar culture as your warning signals or ‘red flags’. If we are able to identify them and remember that they are different (not strange), then we might reduce the amount of miscommunication and misunderstanding between oneself and people from another culture.

Judgements like “they are smelly” or “they are rude” or “they are disgusting” or “they are stupid” can create powerful barriers to good communications. But if we try to learn to use these subjective reactions as warning signals, or red flags, then will be aware of those differences; and that they could simply mean differences in the meaning of similar behaviour in one home country.

While having dinner in Florida a few years ago, I met a British couple who told me that they encountered a “strange” American couple whom they met while playing golf. The story was that this American couple never contacted them after saying “we will have dinner together”. They waited for that dinner but never heard from them again. So, I told them that they won’t call and that there would be no dinner.

Gesture has different meaning in different culture. I remember my first visit to London, where almost everyone in the office greeted with “how are you?” as soon as they saw me (I thought they were being nice to the only Malaysian in the office). While I was still thinking of the reply … they were gone! Soon, I have learnt that none of them were being rude when they asked and walked away at the same time. I have recognised the red flag, so, the next day, almost everyone at the British Council office in London received my “how are you?” before they could ask me; and without (me) having to look in their eyes! A difference in cultural meaning is not necessarily hazardous unless there is inappropriate expectation of something always pleasant. If we do, it may lead to disappointment.

But in a small town, Mosbach, in Germany, I had to say “Good Morning” so this small and extremely friendly community would know that I couldn’t speak German. That was as a result of my first attempt to greet the local folks earlier, which ended in an inappropriate application of the culturally determined rules because my attempt to greet in German at that point was assumed that I spoke the language and they started conversation while I couldn’t understand a word they said…

In Malaysia, there was a story of a Malay family who burped at the dinner table, while a young Australian girl, whom they were hosting was still “struggling” to remove bones from the tiny fish in her plate and trying to finish her rice with her fingers (hand). She complained to me about how “rude and gross” for burping. A few months later, I had lunch with the same girl and she burped in front me, but only smile and said “Alhamdullillah”. She has discovered a Malaysian way of thanking the host (me) and being grateful to the good food.

People in most cultures place a very strong emphasis on cleanliness. But misunderstandings arise because different groups have different definitions or customs about what constitutes the right sort and amount of cleanliness. When comes into contact with people who have different customs or rules about cleanliness, he or she may judge them to be “dirty” or “picky” depending on whether they are less or more attentive to a particular sort of cleanliness.

When one goes to a new culture, it may well happen that one gets the impression that the native people are dirty. Rather than stopping at this powerful negative observation, one should be able to use the reaction as a signal - a red flag that one may have hit upon an area where there are cultural differences in what is considered to be proper cleanliness.

Is it dirtier to spit and blow nose in the street or into a little piece of cloth that you keep in your pocket? Malaysians are not unclean because they do not use hot water to wash dishes and yes, some Americans do not bathe everyday.

How many of us have been asked if Malaysians wear jeans or if we still have houses on trees by our American friends. My sister, when she was in the USA, was tired of explaining where Malaysia is located and finally started telling them that Malaysia is near Texas. So, her friends said, “Ok”. Americans in general seem rather uninterested in what goes on outside their own country. Some of them have not been out their own State.

The issue of intimacy, especially sexual intimacy, is a difficult one that can lead to major misunderstanding between people of different cultures. A Malaysian met a French man during one of her trips and they became friends. When he invited her to a dinner at his apartment, she happily accepted it. When we met, she complained to me that she was expected to go to bed with him after the dinner and was upset about the incident.

When a host national gets angry, it is a good idea to start thinking. Many of us stop thinking and react emotionally when someone becomes angry at us. Seeing red flags is just the beginning. Even when a red flag lets one know that a cultural difference is operating, it may not be simple to bring that difference to light and to understand the differing patterns of behaviour that are involved. The process is like a crossword puzzle – the more parts one has answered, the easier it is to answer the remaining ones.

Well, I would use Malaysian delicacies as lessons to help foreign friends recognising Malaysian red flags when they arrived in Malaysia. My favourite item would include ABC (air batu campur or ice kacang). Corn and kidney beans in colourful syrup is shocking to them. Then, they were fish balls soup for a young American girl. After being told what they were, her reaction was, “I didn’t know fish have balls!!” My response to that was, “yes, they do and the size of the balls will depend on the size of the fish!” before burst out laughing with other fellow Malaysians.


How people react to such experience depends on many factors. But if we can manage to laugh with our visitors or hosts and to explain perfectly natural fact that certain things are unfamiliar, the experience can be a positive one. The visitor may be able to put him or herself in the host’s shoes, and to imagine what the situation must have looked like from their point of view.

Jaina Ibrahim

This section is dedicated to ex- AFS students who came to Malaysia; and Malaysians who participated in the same programme between 1986 ~ 1992 ... they were, and still are .. joy of my life.

Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh

For about USD15 a person, you can get on an air-conditioned bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. It takes about 6 hours, with a stop for lunch. I had 4 days to visit the city, which was about right.

They said that the name Phnom Penh was based on a story about an old woman named Penh, who found four Buddha images that had come to rest on the banks of the Mekong. She housed them on a nearby hill, and the town that emerged around the hill came to be known as Phnom Penh – the Hill of Penh. But there was no legend neither there was a clue as to why Angkor was abandoned in the 1440s and Phnom Penh chosen as the site of the new Cambodian capital.

Phnom Penh sits at the confluence of the Mekong River, the Bassac River and the Tonle Sap River. Major boulevards run north-south, parallel to the banks of the Tonle Sap and Brassac rivers.

My first day, as usual, was to explore the city, and looked for location of restaurants nearby which hotel. Most hotels and many restaurants are located at the riverfront, and there is a jogging or walking track runs parallel to the river. There are also several Muslim eating places near the mosque area, besides quite a few Thai and authentic south and north Indian restaurants scattered all over the city.

Restaurants at the riverfront offer numerous choices, be it French, Italian and other western cuisines. Several good hotels are also situated here.

Must see places in Phnom Penh:

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

Prior to 1975, Tuol Sleng was a high school. When the Khmer Rouge came to power, it was converted into the Security Prison 21 (S-21) and interrogation facility. Inmates were systematically tortured, sometimes over a period of months, to get confessions, after which they were executed at the killing fields of Choeung Ek. S-21 “processed” over 17,000 people. When Phnom Penh was liberated by the Vietnamese army in early 1979, they found only seven prisoners alive at S-21. Fourteen others had been tortured to death as Vietnamese forces were closing in on the city. Photographs of their gruesome deaths are on display in the rooms where their decomposing corpses were found. Their graves are nearby in the courtyard. As now, I don’t know how many are still alive to testify on the case against Khmer Rouge. The unfinished investigation has taken years and the trial finally began on 16 February 2009, 30 years after the fall of the Communist Khmer Rouge. One of the former Khmer Rouge leaders called "Duch" was called on the first day of the trial. He has, apparently turned into a 'born again Christian' and had been behind bar since 1999. At least 4 more other most senior ex-Khmer Rouge members will be called to testify in this "crime against humanity" that has caused 1.7 million deaths. Just don't know when it will end. Keep reading...(this information is dated today, 17 February 2009)

The building now serves as a museum, a memorial and a testament to the madness and cruelty of the Khmer Rouge regime. Much has been left in the state it was when the Khmer Rouge abandoned it in January 1979. Like the Nazis, the Khmer Rouge was meticulous in keeping records of their barbarism. Each prisoner who passed through S-21 was photographed, sometimes before and after tortured. The museum displays include room after room in which such photographs of men, women and children cover the walls from floor to ceiling; virtually all the people pictured were later killed. You can tell in what year picture was taken by the style of number board that appears on the prisoner’s chest. Several foreigners from Australia, France and the USA were held here before being murdered. The prison kept extensive records, leaving thousands of photos of their victims, many of which are on display.

As the Khmer Rouge ‘revolution’ reached ever greater heights of insanity, it began devouring its own children. Generations of torturers and executioners who worked here killed their predecessors and were in turn killed by those who took their places. During the first part of 1977, S-21 claimed an average of 100 victims a day.

Paintings of torture to the prison by Vann Nath, a survivor of Tuol Sleng, are also exhibited. The museum’s famous but controversial skull map has been dismantled and no longer on display.

A visit to Tuol Sleng could be a depressing experience. There is something about the sheer ordinariness of the place that make it even more horrific – the urban setting, the plain school buildings, the grassy playing area where several children kick around a ball, rusted bed, instruments of torture and wall after wall of harrowing black and white portraits conjure up images of humanity at its worst. Tuol Sleng is not likely for the squeamish.

Choeung Ek Memorial (The Killing Fields)

From April 17, 1975 until January 7, 1979, the ultra-Communist Khmer Rouge regime led by Pol Pot, controlled the whole of Cambodia. Under the Khmer Rouge, the country was known as “Democratic Kampuchea.” During that short regime, between one million and two and a half million Cambodians were perished, including educated and high ranking government officials prior to the regime. Some were killed outright, others dying of diseases, malnutrition, neglect and ill-treatments. Many of the dead ended up in a various “killing fields” that can be found scattered across the country. The killing fields were essentially ad hoc places of execution and dumping grounds for dead bodies. The memorial at Choeung Ek, located just outside Phnom Penh was longan orchard and a Chinese cemetery prior to 1975. During the Khmer Rouge regime, it became one of the brutal executions of more than 17,000 men, women, and children, most of whom first suffered through interrogation, torture and deprivation in the in the S-21 Prison (Tu0l Sleng) in Phnom Penh.

The remains of 8,985 people, many of whom were bound and blindfolded, were exhumed in 1980 from mass graves, and apparently, 43 of the 129 communal graves here have been left untouched. Fragments of human bone and bits of cloth are scattered around the disinterred pits. Over 8,000 skulls, arranged by sex and age, are visible behind the clear glass panels of the Memorial Stupa, which was erected in 1988.

The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek is about a 30 minutes drive from the centre of Phnom Penh. If you do visit both Choeung Ek and Tuol Sleng, you would be able to understand a bit more on what had taken place during that period.

Other places to visit include:

The distinctive rust-red National Museum next to the Royal Palace was dedicated by King Sisowath in 1920. Over 5,000 objects are on display including Angkorian era statues, lingas and other artifacts. Make more sense to visit the Museum after you have visited Angkor.

A stroll along the park lined riverfront is a must, and stop at your choice of pubs or restaurants. Stay at one of the hotels situated in the area will be a good idea, too.

Both the Russian Market and Old Market are worth exploring but eating there, like many markets in South East Asia, would only be for the adventurous eaters or if you are familiar with the local hawkers' food

The Great Lake of Cambodia

Tonle Sap (The Great Lake)

The Tonle Sap Lake is about 30 minutes south of Siem Reap. It is said to be the world’s largest freshwater lake. It’s approximately 2500 square km but during the wet season, it swells to 12,000 square km. Floating fishing village dot the semi-submerged forest that lines the flood plane rim of the lake, offering a unique ecosystem with birds and other wildlife.

Charter a boat for the trip is about USD20 for 1-2hr trip but could cost you cheaper if you join group. A variety of tours are also offered in the area, including birding, and Tonle Sap is a home to 120 bird species. Alternatively, there is a Sampan Boat Tour which offers exursions with overnights on board the boat.

More photos of Siem Reap

Photos taken in Siem Reap, Cambodia

Siem Reap

SIEM REAP

No Reservations Required

I was at the departure hall at the Kuala Lumpur Airport waiting to depart for Siem Reap when I met a family of five from Petaling Jaya. The daughter, looked late 30s asked where I was going to stay? She was rather surprised that I was travelling alone to a place that I have never been before without any reservation or knowing where to stay! I told her that I have had arrived at few cities before and only decided on where to stay after taking a short (taxi) ride, sort of get my bearing, and after having the opportunity to look around the city while finding a hotel within my budget and close to eating places. Then, I’ll check in. Well, of course I have read as much as I could about Cambodia before boarding the plane.

I found an English speaking taxi driver upon arrival at the airport. Had a quick tour of the city and checked in to a hotel near the old market area and many restaurants, including one called Little India, served mainly Pakistani food, run by a Bangladeshi family. There is hope for peace at least in a Cambodian kitchen! Siem Reap, means ‘Siamese Defeated’, serves as the gateway to the millennium-old temple ruins of the Angkorian-Era Khmer Empire. Designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, the Angkor Archaeological Park encompasses dozens of temple ruins. Although seems like a sleepy, rural place, Siem Reap offers a good range of accommodation and some good restaurants make it a good place to unwind for a few days.

Angkor Wat , City Temple is a vast temple complex near Siem Reap, built in the 12th century by the king of the prosperous Khmer empire, as a royal temple dedicated to a Hindu deity. Angkor Wat is the best preserved example of Khmer architecture in Cambodia and is so grand in design that some ranked it one of the world’s seven wonders.

After the city of Angkor fell to invaders, Angkor Wat receded into the jungle but continued as a Buddhist temple and a pilgrimage site over the centuries. The lost city of Angkor first attracted the interest of Europeans in the 1800s after Cambodia was colonized by the French. Today, Angkor Wat continues to draw thousands of visitors from other parts of the world.

The city of Angkor was the capital of the Khmer Empire from the 9th to the 15th centuries. The Khmer empire was one of the most prosperous and sophisticated kingdom in the history of South East Asia, and its prosperity was expressed through a wide range of architecture. The city was founded on political and religious ideas adapted from India, and the temples of Angkor were intended as a place of worship for the king and a way for him to ensure his immortality through identification with the Hindu gods.

There are dozens of temples ruins in the area so, we can plan temple itinerary depends on much time you have and your level of interest, though some temples are ‘must see’. I rented a car with a driver for a day, so, my itinerary was included the legendary ruins of Angkor Wat (plus sunset), South Gate of Angkor Thom, Central Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, East Mebon, Baphuan and a few more ruins.
Angkor Wat was built by King Suryavarman II in the 12th century as a vast funerary temple that would hold his remains, symbolically confirming his permanent identity with Hindu God, Vishnu. Many of the bas-reliefs in the temple depict scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, Hindu sacred texts that recount the adventures of two major incarnations of Vishnu. During its six centuries as the imperial capital, Angkor went through many changes in architectural styles and in religion, from the Hindu God Shiva to the Hindu God Vishnu, and finally to the Mahayana Buddhist deity Avalokitesvara.

By the late 13th century, the once frenzied pace of Angkor's architectural pursuits had begun to die down, and a more restrained type of religion was on the rise under the growing influence of Theravada Buddhism. At the same time, Angkor and the Khmer Empire were increasingly threatened and attacked by invading armies. By the 16th century, the golden age of Angkor was over and many of the great temples began to recede into the jungle.

From the 15th to 19th centuries, Theravada Buddhist monks cared for Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat became one of the most important pilgrimage sites in South East Asia.

European visitors to Cambodia towards the later end of that period were intrigued by the "lost city" of Angkor. After the French established a colonial regime in Cambodia in 1863, the entire site became a focus of scholarly interest.

Angkor's temple architecture was heavily influenced by Indian ideas. From the earliest days of the city, Angkor had been conceived as a symbolic universe structured according to Hindu cosmology. The city was accordingly built around a central temple on a hill, which symbolized Mount Meru, the home of the gods. The central tower of each temple also represented Mount Meru. The outer walls of the temple represented the mountains that were believed to encircle the cosmos.

The many waterways, canals and moats of Angkor served a dual purpose: they symbolized the waters of the cosmos and improved water control and rice irrigation. My rented car driver told me the reason for man-made waterways and canals was because crocodiles were kept in the waters for protection from intruders.

Angkor Wat consists of five central shrines, encircled by a moat and three galleries. On the west side of the complex a paved causeway, leading over the moat and under a magnificent portico, extends for a distance of a quarter of a mile to the chief entrance of the main building.

The first gallery has square pillars on the outer side and a closed wall on the inner side. The ceiling between the pillars is decorated with lotus rosettes; the closed wall is decorated with dancing figures. The outside of the inner wall is decorated with pillared windows, apsaras (heavenly nymphs), and dancing male figures on prancing animals. Apsaras are found on the walls of all galleries. From the first gallery a long avenue leads to the second gallery. This is reached via a raised platform with lions on both sides of a staircase. The inner walls of the second gallery contain continuous narrative relief. The western wall shows scenes from the Mahabharata epic.

The eastern half of the south gallery, the ceiling of which was restored in the 1930s, depicts the punishments and rewards of the 37 heavens and 32 hells. On the left, the upper and middle tiers show fine gentlemen and ladies proceeding towards 18-armed Yama, judge of the dead, seated on a bull; below him are his assistants, Dharma and Sitragupta. On the lower tier is the road to hell, along which wicked people are being dragged by devils. To Yama’s right, the tableau is divided into two parts separated by a horizontal line of garudas; above, the elect dwell in beautiful mansions, served by women, children and attendants; below, the condemned suffer horrible tortures.

The third gallery encloses the five shrines which are built on a raised terrace and are interconnected by galleries. The roofings of the galleries are decorated with the motif of the body of a snake ending in the heads of lions or garudas. Sculptured lintels and frontons decorate the entrances to the galleries and the entrances to the shrines.

The five central shrines have three levels, connected by numerous exterior staircases and decreasing in dimensions as they go up. The temple culminates in the sanctuary, a great central tower pyramidal in form. Towers also surmount the angles of the terraces of the two upper stages. Three galleries with vaulting supported on columns lead from the three western portals to the second stage. They are connected by a transverse gallery, thus forming four square basins. The western exterior forecourt of the main temple contains two "libraries," or smaller temple structures. The library on the left was renovated by a Japanese archeological team. The area surrounding the exterior moat is a lawned park, incongruous in Cambodia.

Khmer decorations, profuse but harmonious, consists chiefly in the representation of gods, men and animals, which are displayed on every flat surface. Combats and legendary episodes are often depicted; floral decoration is reserved chiefly for borders, mouldings and capitals. Sandstone of various colours and limonite were used. The stone was cut into huge blocks which are fitted together with great accuracy without the use of cement.

The central complex consists of three stories, each of laterite which encloses a square surrounded by intricately interlinked galleries. The corners of the second and third stories are marked by towers topped with pointed cupolas, rising 31m above the third level and 55m above the ground is the central tower, which gives the whole ensemble its sublime unity. At one time, the central sanctuary of Angkor Wat held a gold statue of Vishnu mounted on a garuda (half-eagle, half-human) that represented the deified god-king Suryavarman II.

Visitors to Angkor Wat take away varied impressions of these amazing temples. Some gain insight into Buddhism or archaeology, and some relate their experience as connecting with the spiritual energy of the temples. The one common thread, though, is the visitors' impressions of sunrise and sunset.

The skies over Angkor always put on a show; if you time it right, you can see the dawn or the day's afterglow framed in temple spires or glowing off the main wat. Here are a few hints for catching the magic hours at the temples:

The sunrise and sunset views from the upper terraces of Angkor Wat itself are some of the best, though it's a tough climb for some. Ignore half-hearted entreaties by staff to leave after the first clears of the horizon at sunset; stay for the afterglow. It's a bit crowded, but the views from Phnom Bakeng (Bakeng Hill), just a short drive past the entrance to Angkor Wat,is stunning at both sunrise and sunset. It's a good little climb up the hill, and those so inclined can go by elephant. The open area on the eastern side of Banteay Kdei looks over one of Angkor's many reservoirs, this one full and a great reflective pool for the rising glow at sunrise.

For the best view of the temples but a hefty fee, you can see the sites from any angle you choose via Helicopters Cambodia.

Bayon

If you could only see two temples, they have to be Angkor Wat and Bayon. There are 37 towers (some say 54) but I didn’t count them. The giant face of Bayon has become one of the recognizable images connected to classic Khmer art and architecture. The towers, most but not all sporting four carved faces oriented towards the cardinal points. Who the faces represent is a matter of debate but they may be Loksvara, Mahayana Buddhism’s compassionate Bodhisattva, or perhaps a combination of Buddha and Jayavarman VII. Bayon’s was Jayavarman VII’s state temple and in many ways represents the pinnacles of his massive building campaign. Its origins were somewhat obscure. Shrouded in dense jungle, it also took researchers some time to realise that it stands in the exact centre of the city of Angkor Thom. There is still much mystery associated with the Bayon - its exact function and symbolism – and this seems only appropriate for a monument whose signature is an enigmatically smiling face.

The eastward orientation of the Bayon leads most people to visit it early in the morning, preferably at sunrise, when the sun inches upwards lighting face after face with warmth. The Bayon, however, looks equally good in the afternoon, and if you stay for the sunset you get the same effect as at sunrise, in reverse.

The best Bayon are the bas reliefs on the exterior walls of the lower level and on the upper level where the stone faces reside. The bas reliefs on the southern wall contain real-life scenes from the historical sea battle between Khmer and the Cham. It is not clear whether this represents the Cham’s invasion of 1177AD or a later battle in which the Khmer were victorious. Even more interesting are extensive carvings of unique and revealing scenes of everyday life that are interspersed among the battle scenes, cockfighting, chess games and childbirth. There are also unfinished carvings on other walls, likely indicating the death of Jayavarman VII and the subsequent end of his building campaign. Some of the reliefs on the inner walls were carved at a later date under the Hindu King Jayavarman VIII.



Preah Khan

Preah Khan is a huge, highly explorable monastic complex. Full of carvings, passages and photo opportunities. It has served as a Buddhist monastery and school, engaging over 1000 monks. For a short period it was also the residence of King Jayavarman VII during the construction of his home in Angkot Thom.
Preah Khan means sacred sword, is a place of towered enclosures and shoulder-hugging corridors. It is in a reasonably good state of preservation, and restoration efforts has maintained, and even improved its state. Preah Khan covers a large area, but the temple itself is within a rectangular enclosing wall of around 700 and 800m. In harmony with Ta Prohm, which was dedicated to Jayavarman VII’s mother,Preah Khan is dedicated to his father.
Like most of Jayavarman VII’s monuments, the Buddha images were vandalised in the later Hindu resurgence. Some Buddha carvings in the central corridor have been crudely carved over with Bodhisattvas, and in a couple of cases, a lotus flower and a linga.

Ta Prohm

This quiet, sprawling monastic complex is only partially cleared of jungle overgrowth. Intentionally left partially unrestored, massive fig and silk-cotton trees grow from the towers and narrow corridors offering some of the best ‘tree-in-temple’ photo opportunity. Ta Prohm is well worth an extended exploration of its dark corridors and open plazas.

There are some children at Ta Prohm who, for a small tip, will show you around. Most of them know the best spots for photography, and will lead you into courtyards you might spend all day trying to find otherwise.

This temple was one of Jayavarman VII’s first major temple projects. It was dedicated to his mother.