Customer Reviews

Culture Shock! Singapore (Culture Shock! A Survival Guide to Customs & Etiquette)

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This is a useful book for knowing how to behave at a local cocktail party or with your local business clients. But when I lived in Singapore in the late 90's I found it did not explain the aspects of Singapore society that actually caused me amd my family "culture shock" - rude crowds, unpleasant public behaviour, and the unexpected reaction of Singaporeans to their efficient, but not exactly pleasant government. I and other expats supplemented this Culture Shock guide with books like Stan Sesser's *The Lands of Charm and Cruelty,* which had an extremely helpful account of S'pore and of "the irrational fear which even the best educated Singaporeans feel towards their government." This is certainly something we experienced. Sesser helped us understand this attitude of our neighbors/acquaintences and made it possible for us to know how, politely, to talk with them about matters other than simply small talk (I would have liked to have known about that from the Culture Shock guide to have saved my guests pain). Sesser's book also goes into good detail about how the Malay and Indian minorities feel like second class citizens in Singapore, something we also heard from them, too. I also recommend Chinese writer Bo Yang's *The Ugly Chinaman & the Crisi in Chinese Culture* for understanding the centuries of history that have produced the dominant Chinese culture of Singapore and the heavy emphisis on "saving face" in any and all situations, even at the expense of what Westerners might call "accurate description." Ian Buruma's book *The Missionary and the Libertine* contains a fascinating account of Singapore called "The Nanny State of Asia," with more about the dissatisfaction (on the quiet, of course) of many Singaporeans towards the police state government of Harry Lee Kuan Yew, to the extent that sadly many skilled and talented Singaporeans chose to leave S'pore for new lives and careers in the First World - all this we found to be true. Paul Theroux's *Saint Jack*, though a novel, contained a surprisingly accurate take on many actions and attitudes to be found in Singapore today - of both long-term Western expats and local Easterners. Christopher Lingle's *Singapore's Authoritarian Capitalism is a kind of "bible" of Singapore's unpleasant underside, usually considered the "twin" of Harry Lee Kuan Yew's 1800 page autobiography (perhaps auto-hagiography is the better term!) You can't buy it in Singapore. Francis Seow's *A Dissident in Lee Kuan Yew's Prison* shows what happens if you open your mouth.

Of course you can have an interesting stay in S'pore and complete a successful year or two stint in your career, before returning to the West, as we did, but the books above will I feel prepare you for the real Singapore more than just the Culture Shock guide - which, ironically, doesn't deal with culture shock at all. The real S'pore is a successfull city-state with many of the pluses and problems of a Arab Gulf oil state - Kuwait for example (where I lived, and which S'pore reminded me of - the plus side {clean toilets, modern garbage collection) and the negative (police state with a mean kick if you're a local). It's sad, because a less megolomaniacal government would have a lot to be proud of in Singapore's clean squares and efficient public transport, in a region better known for corrupt, run-down dictatorial dumps.

Bought this book on the strength of other titles in the Culture Shock series. Was disappointed with its boilerplate descriptions of the process of culture shock and culture-by-culture descriptions of major holidays. As other reviewers have mentioned, there is little discussion of the realities of modern Singapore nor the aspects of which will most likely cause cultural misgivings (ki'asu culture, pursuit othe 5Cs, difficulties in making local friends, government policies towards the media, arts and alternative lifestlyes, etc.). Furthermore, few practitical strategies for dealing with life in Singapore are introduced (building a network of friends, taking advantage of extensive opportunities for personal and professional development, developing a love of sports, using Singapore as a hub for exploring the region, etc.)

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.

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.)

I read this book on my one-way flight to Singapore 4 years ago, and took it as dogma... unfortunately, it was a highly oversimplified and utterly narrow view of a very modern, unique society. I lived, worked and taught college there for three years, and later realized it was a bad idea to rely on an American expat wife for insightful cultural and business advice!

I bought this book after reading and appreciating other books in the series. But this book is trying to be everything but doesn't cover the main theme - understanding the local culture. It goes into practical details although there are other much better sources for it, it covers sights and tourist spots but not as well as the normal travel guides. But when it comes to actually understanding the psyche of the Singaporean, this book is hopeless with a lot of silly generalizations and very superficial statements and none of the very helpful insights I have learnt to expect from the Culture Shock series. It's like the author has just summarized a bunch of guidebooks and added a large dose of Singapore propaganda...