Culture Shock! Singapore

by Joann Craig

Book Overview

Whether you travel for business, pleasure, or a combination of the two, the ever-popular Culture Shock series belongs in your backpack or briefcase. Get the nuts-and-bolts information you need to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1558681086
• ISBN13: 9781558681088
• Release Date: October 1992
• Publisher: Graphic Arts Books
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Great book

When my family moved to Singapore in 1975, the first book my mom bought was Culture Shock: Singapore and Malaysia. (They were one edition back then.) Twelve years later, it was much dog-eared and had helped us know the right thing to do or not do in just about any situation. (Not that we didn't pick up the culture from living in it, but a reference book is always a good idea.) In January, 2006, my husband went to Singapore for business and picked up this edition of it. I read it partly in preparation for a family trip we were taking in April and also just to jog my memory in general. I really enjoyed reading it.I was really excited to learn that the chapter on the Malay community was written based on information from the former Malay teacher at my high school in Singapore. It's fun to see a familiar name in a book. Singapore has three major cultures: Chinese, Malay and Indian and Culture Shock covers all three. It can be really confusing to keep them all straight at first. For instance, traditional Chinese see even numbers as good luck, so you want to give gifts in pairs. Indians traditionally believe odd numbers are good luck, so you would give an odd number. You really don't want to mix these things up and unintentionally offend your host! The explanations of the different holidays are very useful, too. The books also tells how to be a good guest if you are invited to a holiday celebration. There's also a section on business practices and what to expect in the office. If you're going to be visiting Singapore, I highly recommend this book. If you're going to be living in Singapore, I recommend you also get a copy of "Living in Singapore" printed by the American Association of Singapore. It has the nuts and bolts of setting up a life. It covers such things as transportation, shopping, hiring a maid, finding a doctor, enrolling your children in school. It also has information on the embassies and high commissions of many different countries. Discussed are things like visas, lost passports, recording births and deaths and other bureaucratic matters. It's available through the assocation office at the American Club. (You don't have to be a club member to visit the club.)

Eyes wide open!

This book was recommended to me as a 'must read' by a friend who had already done the expat thing in Singapore. The other review of this book nearly decided me not to bother with it by dismissing Craig as just an expat wife. I'm really glad I decided to give it another chance as I am keen not to make too many blunders when I relocate to Singapore. It's impossible to summarise all the nuances of a complex and sophisticated society in the pages of such a slim book, but Craig manages to simplify what is a fairly scholarly exercise on cultural naunces and encourage the reader to adopt a positive attitude to surviving cultural dislocation through mutual understanding, communciation and respect. She herself admits that many of these cultural mores are in a state of flux in Singapore (as they are in any culture), and the book is now seven years old ­ a long time in such a rapidly progressing society. However, I am certainly pleased to take her advice about keeping my mouth closed and eyes open when I arrive and I hope to end up enjoying and respecting Singapore and the Singaporeans as much as Craig obviously does. Had my friend read the book BEFORE she went to Singapore many of the problems she encountered may have been avoided and her experience there much more enjoyable.