As Singapore prosper and grow, the size and diversity of its populace keep pace. The Singaporean culture is best described as a melting pot of various ethnic and racial groups made up of mainly Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian cultures which is a reflection of its immigrant history. However, it is inevitable for conflicts and misunderstandings to arise when people from different cultural norms come together and interact in their own comfortable ways. Sometimes, unintentional meanings may be conveyed through their words or actions that might result in unpleasantries for both parties.
A recent trip to the Singapore Pools by an Indian friend of mine, Abhiram, highlighted the exact scenario. The incident happened while he was in the queue at the soccer betting booth. As I was accompanying him in the queue, I ended up being involved in the conflict as well. It was a weekend and the queue at the betting booth was rather long and moving quite slowly. Abhiram was getting impatient and started complaining about the long wait. Just at that moment, he saw an empty space in front of the man queuing just ahead of us. The man, probably in his fifties, was busy checking his betting tickets and did not realise that the queue ahead of him has moved. Immediately, Abhiram casually pat on the man’s shoulder to alert him about it. When the man turned back, Abhiram nonchalantly signaled him to move forward.
However, to our surprise, the man glared at him with a fiery stare and livid expression. He then hurled some vulgarities in Hokkien at Abhiram. I was extremely shocked and frightened by him. Abhiram, who felt that he did not do anything wrong, was of course very angry at the man’s reasonable scolding and shouted at him, “What’s your problem?! I’m only asking you to move forward because you’re holding up the queue!” The man got even more agitated and roared back, in mandarin, "Why did you touch my shoulder?! Then now how am I going to strike 4D tonight?!”
Instantly, I vaguely recalled hearing somewhere that it is a taboo to tap someone’s shoulder because it is believed by the Chinese that such an act would bring bad luck. I quickly apologised to the man and told him politely that as Abhiram is an Indian, he is not aware that he is not supposed to do that. I hastily explained the taboo to Abhiram and he was then highly bewildered by it. Fortunately, with our sincere apologies, the man was finally appeased and the conflict was resolved. Even then, during the rest of the wait in the queue, he did not stop throwing glares at Abhiram.
After the incident, I went home and consulted my parents about the taboo. They told me that according to the Chinese’s belief, everyone has 3 flames guarding them so as to bring good fortune and also to ward off evil spirits. The 3 flames are located one on each shoulder and another on the forehead. The tapping on one’s shoulder is believed to be able to actually “extinguish” the flames, hence bringing bad luck. That is why the Chinese is especially sensitive to pats on the shoulders when he or she is gambling or during the Hungry Ghost Festival. This a cultural belief that is especially practised by the older generation of Chinese who are more superstitious. That was when I fully understood what had led to the man’s anger and confrontational attitude.
From this small anecdote, it shows the importance for us living in a multi-cultural society to be more aware of our little actions and words that might mean otherwise to someone from a different cultural background. Intercultural communication is more than just effective communication between cultures, it is also a manner of showing tact and respect.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Blog Post #3
I am applying for a sales engineer position in an European MNC that is advertised through a recruitment firm, Anmozel. The main points regarding the position as stated in the online advertisement in JobStreet are as follow:
Responsibilities:
The Job
Together with a dynamic team, you shall be trained to play a key role in building on the existing well-established customer base and expand market share for its renowned brand name range of products and services.
Requirements:
You possess a passion for sales and have a 'never give up' spirit.
You possess a Diploma/Degree in Chemical Engineering/Chemistry/ Biomedical/ Biotechnology Engineering or equivalent.
While you are dynamic, you are very teachable and do not have a fixed mindset.
Fresh graduates with vacation job experience related to sales or those who wish to switch to sales from other job nature are also welcomed to apply.
Some sales experience would be a plus factor!
You are a Singaporean and possess class 3 driving license.
My application letter for the above-mentioned postion is as follows:
Blk 175 #07-51
Lompang Road
Singapore 670175
+65 96435717
U0705188@nus.edu.sg
2nd September 2010
Recruitment Officer
Anmozel Private Limited
30 Cecil Street #15-00
Prudential Tower
Singapore 049712
Dear Sir/Madam
APPLICATION OF SALES ENGINEER POSITION
I am writing in response to your advertisement on JobStreet website on 27 August for the position of Sales engineer who is Chemical/Biotechnological/Biomedical Engineering trained that your client, a European MNC, is currently seeking for.
I graduated from National University of Singapore (NUS) with a Bachelor Degree in Bioengineering and attained a Second-upper Class Honours. Having a strong foundation in bioengineering concepts and knowledge, I am eager to apply what I have learnt in class to real-world scenarios as a sales engineer and I believe I would be adept in doing so. Furthermore, from my various vacation job experiences, I have discovered my interest in sales-related jobs and my capability to excel in jobs of this nature. Therefore, I believe I would make a strong candidate for the position that you have listed since it is a hybrid of both sales and engineering fields that I am able to excel in and more importantly, that I have a strong interest in.
You specified that you are looking for someone with sales related job experience. During my summer vacation in 2009, I took up an outdoor sales position with Lumiere Slimming center to promote and generate sales of their products and services at various outdoor events. I was met with various obstacles due to my lack of knowledge about this industry and the public’s cynical view on slimming and beauty centres. However, with my high versatility, I displayed quick on-site learning of products and services knowledge, and executed flexible and creative sales techniques while leveraging on my effective communication skills. I successfully established an outstanding sales target with a high commission payout that was nearly 50 percent of the basic salary. My dedication, pro-activeness and self-motivation are also key factors that contributed to the exceptional sales outcome.
I am confident that my ability to work well in a dynamic team and my organizational and problem resolution skills would qualify me to handle the responsibilities of the position. Last year, I was given the opportunity to intern at Singapore Technologies Kinetics. My main assignment as a project coordinator of an innovation engineering project honed my organizational skills as I actively managed the project scheduling, budgeting, task allocation, and overall liaising. I worked well in a dynamic team consisting of interns from various schools, engineers, technicians and sales engineers. As the project is a new idea, we were faced with various technical problems during the concept development and system implementation. As a result, I played an active role within the group to help in solving these issues by using the quantitative and analytical skills that I have acquired in part through active participation in my engineering coursework. These attributes, combined with my enthusiasm to learn, were essential to my contributions and success during this internship.
With my proven track record of successful sales experience, strong bioengineering background and high versatility, I believe I would make an ideal candidate for this position in your client’s company. I am eager to apply these skills to a position within the company and strive to improve on them. My resume is enclosed for your reference. I will be in touch with you within a week, and if you need to reach me, feel free to call or email me. I look forward to discussing the position with you or your client in more detail. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Yours faithfully
Signature
Tan Hsiao Wei (Miss)
Responsibilities:
The Job
Together with a dynamic team, you shall be trained to play a key role in building on the existing well-established customer base and expand market share for its renowned brand name range of products and services.
Requirements:
You possess a passion for sales and have a 'never give up' spirit.
You possess a Diploma/Degree in Chemical Engineering/Chemistry/ Biomedical/ Biotechnology Engineering or equivalent.
While you are dynamic, you are very teachable and do not have a fixed mindset.
Fresh graduates with vacation job experience related to sales or those who wish to switch to sales from other job nature are also welcomed to apply.
Some sales experience would be a plus factor!
You are a Singaporean and possess class 3 driving license.
My application letter for the above-mentioned postion is as follows:
Blk 175 #07-51
Lompang Road
Singapore 670175
+65 96435717
U0705188@nus.edu.sg
2nd September 2010
Recruitment Officer
Anmozel Private Limited
30 Cecil Street #15-00
Prudential Tower
Singapore 049712
Dear Sir/Madam
APPLICATION OF SALES ENGINEER POSITION
I am writing in response to your advertisement on JobStreet website on 27 August for the position of Sales engineer who is Chemical/Biotechnological/Biomedical Engineering trained that your client, a European MNC, is currently seeking for.
I graduated from National University of Singapore (NUS) with a Bachelor Degree in Bioengineering and attained a Second-upper Class Honours. Having a strong foundation in bioengineering concepts and knowledge, I am eager to apply what I have learnt in class to real-world scenarios as a sales engineer and I believe I would be adept in doing so. Furthermore, from my various vacation job experiences, I have discovered my interest in sales-related jobs and my capability to excel in jobs of this nature. Therefore, I believe I would make a strong candidate for the position that you have listed since it is a hybrid of both sales and engineering fields that I am able to excel in and more importantly, that I have a strong interest in.
You specified that you are looking for someone with sales related job experience. During my summer vacation in 2009, I took up an outdoor sales position with Lumiere Slimming center to promote and generate sales of their products and services at various outdoor events. I was met with various obstacles due to my lack of knowledge about this industry and the public’s cynical view on slimming and beauty centres. However, with my high versatility, I displayed quick on-site learning of products and services knowledge, and executed flexible and creative sales techniques while leveraging on my effective communication skills. I successfully established an outstanding sales target with a high commission payout that was nearly 50 percent of the basic salary. My dedication, pro-activeness and self-motivation are also key factors that contributed to the exceptional sales outcome.
I am confident that my ability to work well in a dynamic team and my organizational and problem resolution skills would qualify me to handle the responsibilities of the position. Last year, I was given the opportunity to intern at Singapore Technologies Kinetics. My main assignment as a project coordinator of an innovation engineering project honed my organizational skills as I actively managed the project scheduling, budgeting, task allocation, and overall liaising. I worked well in a dynamic team consisting of interns from various schools, engineers, technicians and sales engineers. As the project is a new idea, we were faced with various technical problems during the concept development and system implementation. As a result, I played an active role within the group to help in solving these issues by using the quantitative and analytical skills that I have acquired in part through active participation in my engineering coursework. These attributes, combined with my enthusiasm to learn, were essential to my contributions and success during this internship.
With my proven track record of successful sales experience, strong bioengineering background and high versatility, I believe I would make an ideal candidate for this position in your client’s company. I am eager to apply these skills to a position within the company and strive to improve on them. My resume is enclosed for your reference. I will be in touch with you within a week, and if you need to reach me, feel free to call or email me. I look forward to discussing the position with you or your client in more detail. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Yours faithfully
Signature
Tan Hsiao Wei (Miss)
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