Photo by cottonbro studio.
As a nation, we boast about our multiculturalism, but we fail to accept people for who they are. We judge people and wonder why they cannot follow our culture, further putting ourselves on the pedestal of being the better race. Unfortunately, we are still playing the narratives of divide and conquer of the British colonisers, and feel justified to do so. We are not able to handle the discomfort of being in a community different from what we are used to growing up.
Hence, I read up on the differences between multicultural, cross-cultural, and intercultural. I know that in my discomfort of the unknown lays my answers and breakthrough.
Here is the description for these three terms taken from Spring Institute:
“What is the difference between multicultural, cross-cultural, and intercultural? While they all might be under the same roof, they describe entirely different rooms. The differences in the meanings have to do with the perspectives we take when interacting with people from other cultures.
Multicultural refers to a society that contains several cultural or ethnic groups. People live alongside one another, but each cultural group does not necessarily have engaging interactions with each other. For example, in a multicultural neighborhood people may frequent ethnic grocery stores and restaurants without really interacting with their neighbors from other countries.
Cross-cultural deals with the comparison of different cultures. In cross-cultural communication, differences are understood and acknowledged and can bring about individual change, but not collective transformations. In cross-cultural societies, one culture is often considered “the norm” and all other cultures are compared or contrasted to the dominant culture.
Intercultural describes communities in which there is a deep understanding and respect for all cultures. Intercultural communication focuses on the mutual exchange of ideas and cultural norms and the development of deep relationships. In an intercultural society, no one is left unchanged because everyone learns from one another and grows together.”
Depending on our location in Malaysia, we are a mix of multicultural and cross-cultural. Some of us are still in the multicultural mindset, in which we are aware that we live with other ethnicities, but never engage with people who are different from us. Sometimes, we are forced to interact but it is very transactional and often biased. For example, most of the people working in government come from the majority ethnicity, and if there is a systemic issue, we would immediately blame the ethnicity rather than address the problem.
Some of us are in the cross-cultural stage of awareness. We acknowledge that we are multicultural, but our collective culture is often compared and based on the dominant culture. After the 1969 racial riots in Malaysia, the government came up with two policies, the National Economic Policy (NEP) and the National Culture Policy (NCP) in 1971. Since we are on the topic of culture, here are the principles and objectives of this NCP taken from the Prime Ministry Office (PMO):
Three principles:
- The national culture must be based on the indigenous culture of this region.
- Suitable elements from the other culture may be accepted as part of the national culture.
- Islam is an important component in the formulation of the national culture.
The objectives:
- To strengthen national unity through culture.
- To foster and preserve national identity created through national culture.
- To enrich and enhance the quality of human life in equilibrium with socio-economic development.
Since this policy was written in 1971 together with NEP, I suggest that NCP was a way of uniting Malaysians through a common language, culture, and religion as NEP was to reduce the poverty gap between the indigenous and migrants at that time. On the surface level, the easiest way to unite everyone is through the use of the same language and assimilation because it is easier to control a single variable. The downside of certain types of assimilation is that the minorities are losing their identities. We talk about colonisation, but are we disrespecting the minorities of their way of life? Maybe we should look at ourselves and grow from being cross-cultural to intercultural.
Finally, my idealism will always seek intercultural growth in which we utilise our diverse strengths to build the nation. We should stop imposing and changing the other just because the other is not the same as us. Do not let our pride in our race be the point of division among us. We do not have to agree with each other, but let’s discuss a healthy way in which we can contribute to our nation. We talk so much about the colonisation of the West, but we have to be careful if we are becoming colonisers ourselves. Let’s be honest if we are judgemental and unkind to people who are different from us, and let’s grow by learning how intercultural communication bridges the divide.
Reference:
Prime Minister Office. “National Culture Policy,” July 12, 2019. https://www.pmo.gov.my/2019/07/national-culture-policy/.